At Last
by 1withthewindandsky
Summary: When it's time for Loki to find a wife, he holds a competition for the position, and insists that a few mortals are thrown into the mix of Asgardian women. That's when he meets Anna, a mortal with an attitude, who would do anything to return home to Earth. He's smitten with her, but she won't accept the way Loki typically treats his women. Could Anna ever grow to love Loki?


Anna opened her eyes and took in a sharp breath, as if it was her first taste of air after being submerged under water for longer than any human should be. Her eyes darted frantically around the room, searching for a light, but open or closed, no difference was made, wherever she was, it was pitch dark.

She tried to remember what she was doing last, before everything went black. Her room mate had invited her to a party off campus, something that Anna typically wouldn't agree to, but she had run out of excuses to stay inside all night. So she searched her closet for an outfit that resembled what she normally saw the girls at her school wearing on a Friday night.

She felt her body, to see if she could notice anything, but she was still in the same leggings, crop top that she had put on earlier. Her hair felt a little out of place, but her long wavy hair remained the same, she couldn't have been there for longer than a few hours. Whoever had put her in the room must have something against heat, because it was the middle of November outside, and she felt every bit of that chill. She wrapped her hair around her body to keep herself warm, like a scarf and tried to stand up.

Her feet were wobbly on her wedged shoes, but that had less to do with her stupor and more to do with the fact that they weren't even hers, she had borrowed them from her roommate for the night. She quickly realized that the room that she was in was much larger than she perceived at first. She took slow, small steps forward, feeling for more walls than the corner that she was just in. A few more steps forward led her to something. She hit her knee on a piece of furniture.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, reaching for whatever she ran into.

At that moment, a loud whirring noise started, and lights slowly turned from off, to dim, to extremely bright. She blinked as she adjusted to her surroundings.

She was in a bedroom. A large King-sized bed against one wall was what she injured herself on, a small bruise was already forming on her knee. To her right was a dresser, a comfortable looking loveseat, and a bookshelf packed to the brim. The floor was an icy white tile, covered with a large dark green surface rug, which matched the soft satiny bed sheets draping the bed. Across from that furniture was on open door, which revealed a bathroom with a large Jacuzzi-tub.

The room seemed like a typical luxury hotel room. The only difference was the walls. They weren't like anything she'd ever seen before. They weren't even walls really, they looked like a force field out of some sci-fi movie. They were foggy, like clouds, so she couldn't see out of them, and she assumed that no one could see in. She extended her hand to see if it would act like a wall.

"Ouch! Damn it!" She shouted as she quickly retracted her finger. It zapped an electric current up her arm.

"Ouch ouch ouch ouch" She repeated as she shook her arm around the room.

Anna was confused. Was she kidnapped? Was this some kind of prank? Was she drugged and checked into some fancy futuristic hotel? Anna knew that she should be scared, but really she was just intrigued. Maybe this was some kind of campus research and they were testing how she would react. But there was no way her school could afford all of this, and there's definitely no way taking her against her will was legal. Besides, anyone who was trying to hurt her wouldn't put her in such a comfortable living environment.

"Uh….is anyone watching me? I'd really like to go back to my dorm to enjoy the rest of my weekend…" Anna waited for a response, but it seemed that she was really alone.

"Is it late? I'm kind of tired, should I use this bed?" She asked to no one in particular, hoping for some type of response.

"You know, you could probably be arrested for doing this to me…whoever you are…"

More silence. Anna sighed and went into the bathroom. Maybe washing the makeup off of her face would clear her head. Whatever she was feeling, she was sure it wasn't what whoever put her there was looking for. She was calm and annoyed, even before she realized that the bed that was set for her was 20 times comfier than the mattress pad that she had in her room. The moment she exited the bathroom and laid back on the incredibly soft pillow, she was out like a light.

She awoke what felt like several hours later, but there was no real way to know, to the sound of metal lightly hitting wood. Against she sat up and gasped for air. Across from her was a woman in a long dress with many layers like she was in the renaissance. Her hair was a long pale blonde and flowed down her back in neat, well-kempt waves.

Anna's abrupt awakening startled her, "Oh! Did I wake you? I'm sorry miss, I was just setting down some breakfast for you."

"Where did that table come from?" There was now a small dark wood table with the chairs set across from her bed.

"You're very perceptive." Responded the woman. "Loki had it set here so you can enjoy meals in your room for now."

"Who? How did someone pull a table and chairs in here without me hearing? Who are you?"

"Calm down, dear." The woman cooed. "I'm sure you'll get your explanation soon. I don't think I'm allowed to disclose any information to you. You're a very special guest here, just know that."

"Okay, well tell whoevers in charge here that I appreciate the good night's rest, but I have class on Monday, so if you could just let me out of here, that would be great."

The woman chuckled lightly, "Oh dear, you have no idea. Put your mind at east, enjoy your meal, I'll see if Master Loki can push you towards the top of his list, you're quite an interesting one, I'll give you that."

"I'm interesting? Does that mean there are more of me? Other confused girls?"

"Confused? I'm sure they're confused but…well…let's just say that I spent most of my day yesterday consoling, and finding tissues, reassuring…you're quite the breath of fresh air, dearie." The woman seemed awfully cheerful for an accomplice to an abduction.

Anna was about to ask another question when the woman cut her off, "I've already said too much, eat your breakfast before it gets cold, it'll all make sense soon." And with that she walked right through the "wall" that had shocked Anna earlier.

Anna ran to follow her but as she approached the wall the hair on her arms stood up. Of course it would only work for her. She eyed the food that the woman had left her. It looked delicious, this was unlike any kidnapping she had ever heard or read about.

She wanted to be tentative about eating the food given to her, but it only took a few minutes of looking through her book selection for the delicious smell to get to her. She peered over to the spread and picked up the utensils. They were wrapped in a cloth napkin, like a restaurant. First she tried some of the eggs and toast, they were just like normal eggs and toast, but the eggs were much larger. She finished those and pushed the questionable meat around her plate for a while before giving it a try. It was odd, didn't taste like beef or pork, but looked like it. It was also delicious. Eventually Anna cleaned her plate and washed it down with a mug of something that tasted like wine, but fruiter and less bitter.

Time went incredibly slow in that room. Anna found mostly classics on the book shelf, which she did enjoy quite a bit, but her eyes grew tired of staring at books after some time. She bathed in the large tub with the jets on, which was relaxing, even though she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched even though the walls in the bathroom were true walls. When she searched for clean clothes to change into, she only found extravagant dresses such as the one the woman who brought her breakfast was wearing.

As Anna tried to figure out what pieces of fabric went where, the woman walked through the wall with a new tray.

"Sorry, I didn't come to clean this up." She said as she removed the breakfast tray, "There are just so many girls to take care of, and it's all on me for the day." She seemed somewhat frantic.

She placed a new tray on the table with what must have been lunch and ran back through the wall before Anna had a chance to say anything.

"Okay….see you later I guess." Anna said to herself.

Anna sat at the table to see what she had in store for lunch. Another incredibly spread out meal. A bowl of what looked like chicken noodle soup, more of the meat from the morning, but this time it was cut into slices instead of coins, asparagus in a cheese sauce and a side of mashed potatoes. It was more than Anna would eat for a large meal, forget about lunch only a few hours after breakfast. Despite her lack of hunger, Anna began to eat. She quickly realized that she was eating out of boredom, and thought to herself that if the huge meals go on for a while she will gain weight quickly. A vain thought, perhaps, but she was only 19, most of her thoughts were vain ones.

As she picked at her asparagus, and sipped her extra large mug of drink, someone came through the wall. This time, it wasn't her usual woman, but a man dressed in all black robes. He had a smug look on his face as he looked down on Anna, who continued to calmly nibble on her asparagus.

They both stared at each other for a prolonged amount of time. His expression went from amused to confused pretty quickly.

"Aren't you going to ask who I am?"

Anna swallowed her bite of asparagus, "I'm guessing you're Loki, the one who brought me here, who is referred to as 'Master'- which is a bit pretentious, if you ask me-, and the one who is going to explain to me what the hell is going on here?"

Loki's smirk was back, "You're feisty, I like you. How exactly did you get so smart?"

His voice was deep and enchanting; his British accent was something Anna would expect to hear from a super villain in a comic book.

"Well I didn't sit here and cry all day, like the other girls." Anna said with a superior tone.

"AND you know about the others! Well, someone's going to get punished for that."

"Punished? What do you mean?"

Loki ignored her question, "You were chosen for your hair, that's for sure. Look at that red, is that natural?"

"Are you some kind of hair collector?"

Loki laughed darkly, "Ah yes, a collector, perhaps, but not of hair. I have a bit of a problem on my hands, dear…"

"Anna. I would at least expect you to know my name."

"I'm not very good with names, love." Loki smiled seeing how uncomfortable his pet name made Anna. "My problem is that my brother is clearly set for the throne-"

"..Throne?" Anna asked, "Was I sent back in time?"

"Asgard, love, you're on my planet of Asgard."

"…planet? Where's Earth? This is a wild experiment, this can't be serious."

"Stop interrupting me, it's rude." Continued Loki, "Here on Asgard my family rules, right now my oaf of a father sits on the throne with my mother on his side, my brother, Thor is set to rule next, to take my father's place, leaving me…" he paused, "leaving me with no exact plans."

He looked up to read Anna's expression. She no longer wanted to go along with this joke that was being played on her. She may not have remembered passing out at the party, but she would have remembered being put on a spaceship, that's for sure.

Loki ignored her expression and continued, "My mother wants me to find a mate. Well, a wife. I've...I've had plenty of mates before." He smirked to himself.

"Is this some kind of theater thing?" Anna asked him. "Some kind of thing to get into character? Did I agree to this? Did Melody sign me up for this?"

"Who?" Loki asked.

"My roommate. Melody."

"You don't believe me? Okay. I'll prove it to you."

Loki grabbed Anna by her upper arm and lifted her out of her seat, quite forcefully.

"Dude, take it down a notch." She said as he dragged her through the wall that had been inescapable for her prior to right now.

He looked frustrated.

The room around her had changed drastically. It was all stone, like a dungeon. She looked back at her bedroom, instead of a smoky box like she expected, she saw right in to the familiar sight of her room.

"Has that been a one way mirror deal this whole time?" Anna asked as Loki pulled her along.

He didn't answer, but as the walked down the cold stone hallway she saw many other rooms, all similar to hers, but each with a different girl in them. None of the girls seemed to realize that Anna and Loki could see them. Some looked sad, others looked angry, confused, scared. Anna then realized what the woman meant when she said that Anna was interesting. None of these girls' bookcases looked touched, as well as their meals, which were all in the condition they were brought to them in. While Anna made her bed each day and changed into a dress in her drawers, these girls all still wore normal clothes. Anna assimilated to her situation, these girls just cried to go home.

All of these rooms though, with their weird force fields and one way vision…she wasn't convinced that she was on another planet, but she was definitely somewhere completely new to her. Loki was walking fast and angrily, she kind of wanted to go back to her room and think about all of this.

"I…uh…Loki?"

He still didn't answer as he dragged her up a set of stone steps.

"What?" he asked as they approached the top of the steps.

He stopped to turn to her. His eyes were glowing now. While they were an enchanting green, they were now glowing with a red haze. She was just going to tell him that she believed him so he would let her go back to her room, but his eyes were like nothing she'd ever seen. He seemed more like an alien as she stared up at him.

"Your eyes…" she said as he released his tight grip on her arm.

She looked at her arm and noticed the red hand print mark he left on her. She touched his hand gently.

"You're like ice…what's going on?"

He took a deep breath and his eyes went back to normal. "I told you, I need to find a ma….a wife. I need to find a wife."

"So you kidnapped a bunch of girls to make them marry you?"

"I will not make you marry me, you're going to want to marry me." He said confidently.

"Uhhh, I think you're a little confused to how romance works, dude."

He opened his mouth to respond when a woman appeared at the top of the steps, she seemed surprised by Anna.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Loki, have you spoken to all of the mortals yet, I hate keeping them locked up down here, it's cold."

"I'm working on it mother, as you can see right now."

"Yes! Well she's already out of her room!" His mother seemed excited, he seemed annoyed as he licked his bottom lip waiting for her to finish speaking. "Why don't we just bring her in with the rest of the girls?"

"I don't think-" Loki started

"Nonsense! You finish with the others and get Astrid or someone to bring them up when they're ready. Come on, dear." Loki's mother reached her hand out for Anna's.

Anna looked tentatively at Loki, who still looked annoyed with his mother interfering. As much as Anna tried to act tough and calm, Loki did scare her when he dragged her out of his room, and decided that going with his mother, who seemed kind and warm, was probably the right choice.

She grasped on to her hand and continued to the next floor. The place immediately opened up, and what seemed like a house before, obviously became a palace. Beautiful clouds floated outside the windows, as well as people, all dressed in lavish robes and dress in floating vehicles. Anna was stunned.

"I know this is a lot to take in for a mortal, Loki's mother started, oh! I'm Frigga by the way." She put on a warm smile.

"Why did Loki want to steal a bunch of, uh, mortals for his wife?" Anna wasn't in the mood for small talk.

Frigga seemed surprised by how forward Anna was. "Loki has always had a fascination with mortals. He usually goes to earth to play with them, but if he is to marry one, they will have to live here."

"IF he is to marry one? So he might not choose a bride? Because let me be the first one to take myself out of the race."

"Oh, darling, Loki will choose a bride, but there are only 5 mortals that were chosen for him, the rest, are Asgardian women." She finished her sentence as she opened the large door in front of them. It was a long gold hallway, with several doors on each side, much like a dorm. Frigga walked ahead of Anna and motioned her to follow.

Some doors were closed, but most were open. In them Anna saw the most beautiful, strong women that she had ever seen, much like Frigga herself. These must have been Asgardian women. They laughed and talked and primped themselves in their mirror. Many turned to glance at Anna like she was on display in a museum. Frigga stopped at a room towards the end of the hallway to their right.

"This will be your room, until you leave. Well, if you leave." Said Frigga.

It was very similar to her room downstairs, except much warmer and with real walls. This room also had a vanity with makeups and nail polishes, and it was all dark pinks and light reds. This room felt much more comfortable, as far as rooms she was forced to be in went.

"How do I get to leave?"

"All about leaving our beautiful palace, I should take offense." Frigga said.

"I didn't-"

Frigga put up a hand to stop her, "I know. I know that you're confused and unsure, but give it a chance. Loki chooses who stays and who goes until there is just one of you left. There are 20 in total right now, 5 mortals, and 15 Asgardians. You all have freedom to roam the palace and a door at the end of the hallway to roam the grounds. You may have the upper hand here, darling, most of these girls would kill to win Loki's hand, if you truly don't want it, well, that's what makes you special. My son will love that." She smiled and squeezed Anna's hand, "good luck!"

Anna gave a weak smile in return as Frigga made her way out of the room.

She turned to examine her new living quarters. The mirror was a nice addition, and she began too analyze her reflection almost immediately. Her long red hair fell around her in its' natural curls. Her makeup had been washed off, but it seemed that she had been provided with a new supply. She didn't typically wear much makeup, but these Asgardian women seemed to be naturally stunning, and if she wanted to compare, it would be in her best interest to accentuate her bright eyes. She didn't look like any of these other girls. She looked like a modern woman on Halloween.

But did she want to stand out? Maybe she could bring out her worst self and be sent home that night. In typical Anna fashion, she wanted to learn all she could about her surroundings and its' inhabitants, but at the same time she was missing her real life, that she would almost undoubtedly eventually have to return to.

After attempting to tame her hair in a braid and putting on some light eye makeup, Anna ventured outside her room. She took a book with her, Pride & Prejudice, one of her favorites, and planned on heading outside to explore this new world and possibly find a nice spot to read, but as she turned towards the door another girl was exiting her room and bumped right into her.

"Ah!" she exclaimed as she spilled drink down he dress, she looked quite angry, "Why don't you- ah," she calmed her tone, "of course, a mortal. Loki always took a liking to mortals. Of course he would put a few into the competition."

Anna didn't know what to say, the girl didn't seem friendly with her bright blonde hair tied into a tight pony tail that fell down her back. She seemed tough and unwavering…and perfect.

"I'm sorry, I was-"

"Getting out of my way." The girl interrupted.

Anna stepped back as the girl, who towered over her by at least a foot, continued her way down the hall in her stained dress.

"Scary, isn't she?" A girl said from behind her.

Anna turned around to see a much more feminine girl standing in the doorway to another room, she wasn't much taller than Anna, who stood at a measly 5 foot 2 inches. The girl had pale white skin and dark black pin straight hair that fell just past her shoulder. Anna could tell that this girl was also Asgardian.

"Her name is Helga." The girl continued, "I'm Lale." She outstretched her hand for Anna to shake. Anna did, apprehensively.

"You don't have to be worried," Lale went on, "Not all of us are warriors like her, and not all of us are here to smash the competition."

"You mean, you don't care about winning either?" Anna asked, hoping for a common interest with this seemingly kind girl.

"Of course, I would love to win!" Lale's emerald green eyes lit up, "It would be an honor to be a member of the king's family, but Loki is harsh, it won't be easy, and if I win, I want to do with honor."

"How exactly do you win? Uh, not that I want to."

"Loki will choose as he wishes. It's up to us to show him our best self. He will eliminate us when we no longer please him, sending us back home. You don't have courting ceremonies like this where you're from?" Lale seemed surprised that Anna was so clueless.

"No, not at all. This is all very strange to me."

"Well this is fairly typical for children who come from important families here."

"Hmmm…so this is like The Bachelor."

"The what?" Lale didn't understand.

"Oh, it's a television show from where I'm from where one man has a bunch of women vying for his affections and he eliminates them one by one until he chooses one to marry."

"I'm not sure what this television is that you speak of, but yes, it seems like you understand."

Anna was about to explain, but realized that it probably wouldn't make a difference if Lale did know what a television was, "I know my opinion doesn't mean anything, but if the rest of the girls are anything like Helga, I think you've already won this thing. You actually look a lot like Loki, but you're much kinder."

Lale's eyes grew wide, "You've met him already? Were you chosen by him himself?"

"Oh, uhm, I actually don't know how I got here, but no, I don't think he chose me, I think he just met me a little while ago when I had a room downstairs. It was an….odd interaction, do everyone's eyes glow red here when they're angry?" Anna was full of questions.

"Anna, how did you anger him already? He transformed into a Frost Giant in front of you?"

Anna was obviously confused.

Lale sighed, "Loki was adopted, he is part Frost Giant, when he gets angry he can lose control and his skin will turn icy and blue, his eyes glow red, I'm surprised you weren't thrown from the competition right there."

"He was very easily frustrated, I don't think he is enjoying this competition. And I wish he did throw me out right there, I was taken against my will, if I were to be sent home it would be no skin off my back."

"Well I don't know what kind of life you live back on your planet, but I doubt it is anything like living here in this palace."

Just then, the door at the end of the hall opened, and a guard in full armor ushered through 4 shaking girls.

"The other mortals don't look like you." Lale commented.

Anna assumed that she must have meant that they all looked like they were in line for slaughter. Many of the women stopped what they were doing and stared, most of them sneering at the mortal girls, obviously entertained by their fear.

"Perhaps I should greet them? I mean, I was the first mortal here." Anna looked to Lale for advice.

Lale smiled, "Look at you, already growing to your new home. Anna, I don't think you'll be leaving on your own accord any time soon."

Anna highly doubted that she would grow fond of the palace, but rather than fight Lale on it, she just smiled and went on to talk to the new girls. As she made her way to a room where two of them went, the door at the end of the hall opened again, but this time it was a familiar face.

As Loki entered the hall, all of the Asgardian women stopped in their tracks. A few jogged up to him to be the first to greet them, Anna turned to see Lale start playing with her hair. The other mortals remained in their room and Anna slipped in to get away from the commotion that Loki caused. She turned her head before closing the door behind her to see Loki looking right at her. Maybe avoiding him was the key to getting her sent home.

The two girls jumped up when Anna walked in. They both looked very scared.

"Hey, sorry to barge in, uh, Loki's out there and it got kind of crazy. I'm Anna, I'm a mortal too."

They both relaxed a bit, but still looked confused.

Anna went on, "I'm assuming you both got this all explained to you by Loki before you were brought in here."

The girls were both blondes, one with a short, straight, angled bob, the other with medium length messy curls. The one with the shorter hair spoke first.

"Everyone's acting like this is super normal, but I'm pretty sure we were all kidnapped and now we're expected to compete to marry this guy?"

The other girl nodded along with the first.

"I don't find any of this normal at all, but the other girls apparently see this stuff all the time, did you stand up at all to Loki?"

"No way," the girl with the curly hair spoke, "He's terrifying, I'm Brooke, by the way, and this is Sarah."

Anna smiled, "He's just a man, don't be so scared. I know we feel like we've been abducted, but to him he just put us in some kind of prestigious competition. We've all been treated pretty well, right? I'm not saying we should go all googly eyes over him, but let's just do our best to be sent home as quickly as possible."

"How should we do that?" Sarah's brown eyes lit up at the idea of going back to her home.

"Well, Loki will send home any girls he deems unfit to be his wife, so act…un-wife like."

"Sounds like someone's trying to play this game for themselves."

Anna whipped around when she heard that dark, cool voice, "JESUS, you scared me!"

The other two girls sat quietly on the bed.

Loki chuckled, "Not my intentions, love-"

Anna interrupted him, "I'm not your love."

Loki recovered quickly, "Ah, yes, well I would like you three and the other two mortals to join me for dinner tonight. All of these girls already know me, but I thought you five would like to get to know me a little better."

Anna looked back and Brooke and Sarah who were just nodding their heads quickly and quietly.

"Ah, good, I'll see you-"

"I won't be there." Anna interrupted, "I'm busy."

Loki didn't look amused, "And what, may I ask, could you possibly be busy doing?"

"You gave me a bookshelf full of books to read," Anna held up her copy of Pride and Prejudice, "I planned on getting some reading done tonight."

Loki waited a moment before responding, "Of course," he sighed, "Well, I'll just have to see you alone then. When you can make time for me in between reading your books."

Anna was honestly surprised by Loki's response, she was hoping her snarky attitude was enough for her to be sent home, especially since the other girls would obviously agree to anything he said.

Loki eyed Anna up and down before turning to exit the room, "see you girls later, he said with a turn of his heel as he exited the room.

"Will you two be alright at dinner tonight?" Anna asked.

"It doesn't seem like we have much of a choice." said Sarah

"What do you mean? You clearly had a choice, I just made mine, and I'm not going. He even seemed okay with it. If you want to make it back home, you can't just do everything he says."

"Anna, he's really scary. I can't be brave like you just were."

Anna didn't see it, but she wasn't going to argue with her, "I guess I just don't see it, good luck tonight." And with that, she left the room to find the other mortals.

Anna thought that she was going to have to go door-to-door, facing many Asgardians to find the other mortals, but as she exited the room, she nearly ran into them.

"Oh! Sorry! Uh, you must be the other mortal girls, I'm Anna."

One of the girls, a taller girl with long brown hair in tight, kinky curls gave Anna a dirty look and replied, "How do you figure that."

Anna wasn't one to return a rude response with a friendly attitude, "Well," she said, "Isn't it obvious, these Asgardian girls have a bit of a look to them."

Neither girl answered, Anna directed herself towards the other girl, and equally as tall Asian girl with long black hair in soft waves. She recognized her from downstairs, this girl was in particularly bad shape when she saw her, and although her tears were gone, she was obviously looking to the other girl for direction on how she should react to this situation.

"Listen, I'm just trying to be friendly, there are only five of us here that don't really know what's going on."

The brown haired girl grabbed the Asian by her hand, "I think we can figure it out for ourselves, in fact, Loki just invited us to dinner with him."

"Yeah, he invited all of the mortal girls to dinner, and I'm the only one who's not going because I don't actually want to compete for this strange kidnapper's hand in marriage, do you?"

The Asian girl gasped, "You- you told him no?"

"Yeah, obviously I said no, I don't want to be here."

"Well, maybe we do, and if that's the case, we don't need help from the competition." The brown-haired girl said.

With that she dragged off her friend, back to one of their rooms.

Anna couldn't help but wonder if it was normal to be so desperate for love, or money, or whatever that girl wanted. In Anna's opinion, Loki would be crazy to pick a girl like that when he had several incredibly beautiful Asgardian women to choose from who would bend at his whim in an instant. Why steal mortals to be in the competition at all when you already have all of these women at your feet? She decided not to dwell on it, for none of it would matter soon enough. She would be back home soon, as soon as Loki realized how uninterested she was. For now, all she had to do was enjoy her book back in the seclusion of her bedroom.

Anna was ripping through Pride and Prejudice in no time. It was one of her favorites, and she quickly realized that the rooms must be sound-proof, because the moment she closed her door all of the babbling girls outside were gone. Each room was equipped with a window towards the top of the high ceilings, she could see that it was freshly night fall, that meant that her dinner would be arriving soon. She hadn't eaten since being downstairs, the other girls probably ate the entirety of their meal when she skipped much of hers because Loki cut her meal short, so she was actually ready to eat when someone knocked at the door with what she assumed was her dinner. She slid off of the love seat and put her book down to greet whoever brought her meal, but before she could even make it across the room they opened the door themselves.

Her smile faded from excitement to confusion when it wasn't a servant that brought her tray of food, but Loki, with a rolling cart with two trays on it.

"Uh, do you do food delivery now?" Asked Anna.

"Ah, love, do you think I would choose a group of eager girls over you? My mysterious mortal with a tough shell to crack."

"Not your love, and I'm not here for you to crack my shell. I'm not trying to be mysterious, I'm trying to go home. And you're interrupting my book, please go, go to the girls who actually want to see you."

Loki was obviously agitated, "Well you're not here by choice, love, you're here because you are my pet."

"Excuse me?" Anna interrupted

Loki continued, "and as so, you will eat your meal with your master."

Anna scoffed, "Okay, I don't know what you're used to, buddy, but I do not belong to anyone and I will NOT eat with you."

Loki's eyes glowed a dim red, causing Anna to take a step back, "Okay, you won't eat with me? Then you won't eat at all! Come to me when you're ready to calm your hunger!"

He waved his arm and the cart of delicious smelling food disappeared in front of Anna's eyes, her jaw dropped.

"How did you-"

"I'm a lot more powerful than you realize, dear." And with that, Loki speedily left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Anna was prepared to call his bluff. If she just went to sleep, and woke up in the morning, one of the servants would surely bring her breakfast. They couldn't starve her.

When she woke up to the dim light of morning, she was crushed to find that no one came to feed her. She tried to leave her room, but the door was locked from the outside.

"How would I even surrender to him if I can't leave my room?!" She shouted to no one in particular.

As the sun crossed the sky, her stomach ached as it was left empty after lunch. She tried to do anything to keep her mind off of it, she showered three times and finished Pride and Prejudice and half of Emma, another one of her favorites, but there was no hope. As the sun set o the day, she was in intense physical pain. She knew that people had gone much longer without food, but she was hungry. Her pride barely outweighed the pain, but she wasn't ready to give up yet. She forced herself to go to sleep again, if there wasn't any breakfast waiting for her when she woke, she would have to accept defeat.

Anna woke up in the morning and refused to open her eyes. She knew that she was defeated, there was no smell of delicious meats or freshly cooked eggs. She was going to have to find a way to get Loki. She moaned slightly and sat up in bed, groggily opening her eyes. The sight of him nearly stopped her heart.

"Loki!" She shouted, pulling up the covers to cover herself in the small night slip that was provided for her to sleep in.

"One of the maidservants asked me to come to you, they said that you were mumbling in your sleep all night, 'Loki, Loki please'" he mocked her, "I'm assuming you're ready to apologize, pet? I've set up a lovely breakfast for us."

Anna tried to keep a tough face, but her stomach betrayed her by growling loudly, "Let me just get dressed."

"No, no. You can stay just like that, I like you just like that."

"But, I'm barely dressed." Anna argued.

"Okay, you can get dressed," Loki paused, "If you formally apologize to me."

Anna opened her mouth to speak but Loki continued, "With a kiss."

His sly smile turned her stomach, she huffed loudly, "Let's eat."

Anna rolled out of bed and sat at the two person table, just like the one in her room downstairs. Loki snapped his fingers and a delectable breakfast just like the one she had two days prior appeared in front of her. She started by chugging an entire mug of the honey-liquid and then dug in, ignoring any inkling in her to remain even the slightest but lady-like.

"Looks like someone didn't like being starved, hm pet?"

"Do you have to call me that?" asked Anna, "and no, I don't know anyone that enjoys not being able to eat."

"Well I'm glad that I could satisfy you- with this meal of course."

Anna looked at him with an eyebrow raised, was he honestly hitting on her when he just held her meals after storming out on her?

Loki continued, "So what would you like to do today, love? A whole new world for you to explore."

"Honestly, I'd like to see my friend Lale."

Loki pursed his lips, "hmmm….that name sounds familiar."

"A little taller than me, straight black hair, honestly looks a bit like you?" Anna tried to jog his memory.

"Ah! Yes. I know her. No, no, that won't work, she's gone."

Anna dropped her fork, "What do you mean? Where did she go."

"I don't know, back to her measly life with her family and the other's, I suppose."

"You're sending people home already?" asked Anna in shock, "You've known these girls for two days, how could you possibly say that they're not good enough for you yet? Why haven't you sent me home."

Loki smirked, "I told you, love, I like a challenge." Loki stood up and moved behind Anna, who remained in her chair. He put his hands on her shoulders and started massaging them., "Now there are only 14 other girls standing between you and the crown, in the spirit of competition yet, love?"

Anna hadn't realized that he had gotten so close to her face, his breath tickled her ear. It wasn't until his gently bit down on her collar that she woke up from the trance that his massage put her in, and stood up to turn to him , "first of all, you don't know me well enough to put your hands on me."

"You didn't seem to mind." He retorted with a smirk.

Anna ignored him, "Second, you send home 5 out of 20 girls and I wasn't one of them?"

"I even sent home one of your kind, the sad girl who seemed to not know how to speak."

The Asian, for sure, Anna thought to herself.

Loki went on, "And now, I'd like to spend the day with you, getting to know you better. Who knows? I might come to hate you and then I can send you back home to your sad life at your sad school to work for mediocrity where you so long to be."

"Seems like you already know me pretty well." Anna snapped back at him, "I don't want to do any exploring, "Anna lied, she so desperately wanted to learn more before returning home, "I just want to read."

"Then I shall read with you." Loki responded, and he did.

Loki surprised Anna when he asked what books she had read, and when she named off an extensive list of her favorites, he was able to hold a conversation about all of them. He spoke his opinion on Mr. Darcy, of his hatred for Macbeth, how amused he was by Wonderland. He actually asked Anna to continue reading Frankenstein aloud as he sat next to her on the loveseat.

She had a little more than half left to read, but he let her go on and on, Anna loved the sound of her own voice. They even took a lunch break together, eating their delivered meals on the loveseat. As she read, he began to massage her shoulders again, and this time she didn't protest, since he was incredibly good at it, and she had the tenseness that most college students carried around on finals week.

She finished the book, and he continued on, relentlessly working out her knots and making her feel wonderful.

"That was lovely, dear." Loki said softly, his breath on her ear once more, "now tell me, do you still despise me as you did earlier, because I find this intelligent side of you incredibly sexy." The end of his sentence was mumbled, as he plant kisses down her neck.

Anna was enchanted again. Deep down inside she knew that this man stole her from her home, but he was also incredibly alluring and knew exactly what he was doing. He placed one finger under her chin and lifted it to his face, his lips gently touched her when she realized what she was doing, and she pulled back, "No, Loki."

She hadn't gotten up from the space she had made herself, cradled in between his legs as they lounged on the loveseat, and he pulled her back into him, "Yes" he said breathlessly, nibbling on her ear, she could feel how hard he was from the position that she had put herself in.

She pulled away once more, "You have 14 other girls out there, go to one of them."

Loki was annoyed, but at least he was more frustrated than angry, his eyes remained a human color.

"You know what, I think I will." He said as he stood up and left the room. He didn't slam the door behind him this time, but Anna knew that he was unhappy, and for some reason, his unhappiness didn't cause her any joy. She wondered if she made a mistake by sending him away. No, she didn't want to marry him, but a little fun would have been nice, she couldn't lie to herself, she was definitely attracted to him.

It was early, dinner wouldn't be for another hour or so, but she didn't want to think about Loki kissing her anymore, or how much she may or may not have wanted it. She slipped off her clothes, and crawled into her bed. Maybe the next day she would actually leave her room and take in this new world before she was sent back home to Earth.

Anna woke up the next day to the smell of breakfast. She as relieved to see that even if Loki was angry with her, he didn't stop her meals again. She ate quickly, took a shower, and got dressed in one of the sets of robes in her dresser. She walked out of her room to find an empty hallway, it was then that she realized that she would be exploring alone, since Lale had left. She wasn't devastated or anything, but she was upset that her first chance of a friendship on the planet was gone. The door to the outside opened to a beautiful garden. Trees and vines attached to one another in all directions, with flowers brightening the paths. There was lush green grass that many of the girls sat on, and picnic tables where they could snack and chat. This was all lovely, but the one thing that really caught Anna's attention was that the whole place seemed to be surrounding by incredibly tall shrubs. Anna began to search for Brooke or Sarah, the only friendly faces she knew.

She found them together in a corner, talking in a hushed tone to one another.

"Hey, how are you guys?"

They both looked at her with a sort of pity on their faces.

"Oh, I didn't think you were still here," Brooke said, "We hadn't seen you in a while."

"Oh, yeah, that's a long story. I'm sorry that you two are still here, luckily Loki seems to be weeding us out pretty quickly."

"Well, I'm not sorry that I'm here, do you see this place? It's wonderful. At first I thought this was a curse, but it's obviously a blessing." Said Brooke as Sarah nodded along.

"Wait, you want to be here?" Anna was shocked, "and you know what I see when I look around? I see that we're surrounded by a fence and unable to be free on the world that we are being forced to live on. How is that a blessing?"

This time, Sarah spoke up, "Well maybe if you didn't upset Loki every time he saw you, you would know that he's been taking girls out of the palace on dates."

Anna couldn't help it, but she felt her stomach do a flip, was she jealous? "How could Loki have been taking girls on dates if he spent all of yesterday with me?"

Brooke scoffed, "That was probably a copy of him, I saw him a few times yesterday, and for a while last night…" Both the girls giggled to one another.

"A…a copy?" Anna didn't understand.

"Oh my god, 24 hours in your room and you're like a Martian." Brooke was obviously mocking Anna's confusion, "Loki has powers, haven't you figured that out yet? And he can make copies of himself, good thing you don't want to be here, because you have no idea what you're doing."

Anna was tired of being mocked, these girls have obviously swapped sides, leaving Anna to be the only one left who wanted to go home. If she was so dumb and clueless, why wouldn't Loki just let her go? And if the Loki that she was with really was fake, did the real Loki want to sleep with her? Did the real Loki sleep with Brooke? None of this made any sense to Anna, she yearned for home now more than ever.

She went to a secluded corner of the garden to begin reading a book of Emily Dickinson poems. She didn't get very far in when she felt the stare of someone behind her. She turned around and saw his piercing eyes leering at her.

"Is this how you attract women, Loki? By peering at them through the bushes?"

He emerged from the shadows, with his eyes focused on the book in her hands, "I was hoping that you would wait for me to start reading a new book."

"Well you stormed out on me after I wouldn't sleep with you and a little birdy told me that you found a replacement, so I assumed you didn't need me anymore." She wasn't going to hide how upset she was with him, "If this is just a game of how many girls you can sleep with, Loki, I am not interested. You can send me home right now."

Loki sat down next her and placed his lips to her neck, "I thought you weren't interested in the first place."

She leaned away from him, "I'm not. I'm making that pretty clear, I don't understand how you're not getting the hint."

He put his hand on her thigh, massaging it slightly, "Well, love, you're obviously jealous of my affection for the others and you haven't taken my hand off of you yet, so I'm getting mixed signals, if I may be honest."

He was right and she knew it, she didn't want to give into him. Every inch of her feminist mind said that this was a terrible idea, but she wanted him. Even if it was just one time, she wanted to touch him desperately. But she was headstrong, and wasn't ready to give in, "Well let me make it clear to you, Loki, I am not the kind of girl that waits to be chosen. I'm not going to be a sample while you try everyone else. It's not who I am. If you want me, then you need to want me and me only. As long as I'm a part of this competition, it is not going to happen." As she finished her rant, she removed his hand off of her leg and walked back to her room, leaving him alone. She was hoping that she would be able to eat her lunch with everyone else and possibly meet the rest of the contestants, but after the stunt she pulled, she decided that eating alone in her room would be her best bet.

She wasn't sure why she said those things to Loki, after going over it in her head she really made it sound like she wanted to be his only one. Maybe he put some kind of spell on her, because never would she have been the type of girl to fall for a guy in less than week. Not any guy, for that matter, but a guy that abducted her and basically forced her to fall in love with him. Which she wasn't. She wasn't in love with him, she actually couldn't stand him, at least that's what she told herself whenever he popped into her mind. If anything, maybe she was in lust with him. She had hormones, just like any other girl, that was completely normal, but she definitely didn't like him. Not one bit. As long as she repeated that to herself as often as possible, she would be home soon. At least, she hoped so.

Lunch came as normal, but what was abnormal was the letter that it came with. It read, "Dearest Anna, please come to the garden after lunch, I have something important to show you – Loki."

Anna ate fairly fast, she was confused and dying to know what Loki wanted to show her. Her stomach was a bit queasy when she went out to where she had just run away from him a few hours earlier.

"How about an adventure, love?" Loki asked as Anna approached him. He was sitting in the same place Anna left him, she wondered if he ever moved.

"Like…out of the palace? Out there?"

"If that's what you would like." Loki smirked.

"I don't understand, there are plenty of girls who want you so incredibly bad, I am literally the only one who denies you, yet here you are, taking me out on a coveted date. Why?"

"I told you, pet, I like the challenge. I want you to enjoy your time here."

Anna didn't want to lead him on, but she was dying to see this world, "Well…okay then, where are we going?"

"I thought we'd just enjoy each other's company like we did yesterday, I have a copy of that book you were reading earlier…"

"I finished that book already. Back in my room."

Loki actually had a flash of worry cross his eyes before he calmed himself, "well then, you're stuck with my company."

He brought her to a large grassy field at the base of some beautiful mountains. They travelled by Loki's powers, which was extremely unnerving to Anna. One moment they were in the garden, the next at the base of a mountain. They sat in the grass for a bit, discussing books again. Then they ended up lying in the grass next to each other. Anna playing with his hair as they stared up at the clouds. It was all very cliché, and from passing conversations that she heard from the other girls, it was very unlike Loki. She couldn't tell if she was being narcissistic, or if he was genuinely treating her different than everyone else.

As they walked for a bit before heading back to the palace, Anna felt warm inside. Maybe she could like Loki if Loki could stop liking fourteen other girls. She held on tight to him as they blipped back to the palace. As she opened her eyes she realized that they hadn't appeared back in her room. This room was much larger. The floors a dark marble, the bed bigger than any bed she had ever seen draped with black satin sheets with a matching canopy.

This room also had a bookshelf but it was on a second story of the room with a dark mahogany ladder leading up to it. Anna spun to see that the books covered all of the top of the room. There was a table in the room, small, like her past rooms, but this one was in front of a huge window that went from the floor to the ceiling. There were two doorways, one that lead to a bathroom and another that lead to a walk-in closet. She noticed clothes in the closet, meaning that this room was being occupied.

"This is crazy." Anna breathed lightly, as she took it all in, "Where are we?"

"This," Loki said, "Is my room. And you, my dear, are the first person I've had here in ages."

"Why are we in here? The other girls are going to be waiting for you to start dinner."

"No" he said in a sure tone, "they won't be, they're all gone."

Anna's eyes opened wide, "Where have they gone?"

"Home. I told the maidservants to vacate their wing while we were gone. You said you couldn't even imagine the possibility of falling for me unless you were the only girl, and now you are."

"Loki, that was stupid, it hasn't even been a week. You can't just make a decision about who you want to marry in less than a week. You haven't even asked me."

"All that I ask is that you give it a try. I wouldn't have sent the others home if I wasn't serious about us."

Anna was completely overwhelmed, this was such a grand gesture from Loki, but even if she did give it a try, she wasn't going to leave Earth for him. She never could do that. But he was looking at her with these eyes, like he really meant it, she didn't know what to say.

"I…uh…okay, Loki. I'll…try…"

Loki smiled, "Well then, welcome to your new room."

"I'm…going to sleep in here…with you?"

"Being the last girl is no small feat, my dear, it's going to be hard enough to explain to my mother why there's no ring on your finger, there's no way I could make an excuse to why we don't sleep in the same quarters."

Anna sighed, "Okay, I can deal with that."

Anna stayed in Loki's room for the rest of the night. He asked her if she wanted to go to meals with him and his family, but she thought it may be a bit much for one day. So she sat alone in the humongous room, thinking about how ridiculous this all was, about how despite everything, she still couldn't imagine herself living in Asgard, and most of all how she was actually starting to pity Loki and his strange hastiness to this stage of commitment.

Loki came back to his room about an hour after Anna had finished dinner. She was relaxing in the bath, which was the same Jacuzzi tub that she had grown accustom to in the past few days.

"Anna?" Loki called from the bedroom.

"I'm in the bath." Anna responded.

She heard Loki's footsteps grow nearer. "Whoa there, are you just going to barge into the bathroom while I'm naked in the bath?"

She heard Loki chuckle from outside the door, "Well it is MY bathroom, pet."

"Well for the time being, it's OUR bathroom, and I'm in here." Anna retorted.

"Hmm…well may I come in and get ready for bed?"

Honestly, bed was something that Anna had been thinking about all day. Would Loki try something on her on their first night together? Did she want him to? She also couldn't stop thinking about the whole clone thing, did Loki really spend that day with her?

"Okay, fine, whatever."

It wasn't that Anna was self-conscious, she was proud of her body. Back home she exercised daily. She worked on her toned tummy and was moderately sized in her chest and butt. The few days here, eating these huge portions had given her a bit of a tummy, but nothing significant, if anything she was a tad bloated. It was really the principle that Loki had no right to see her naked, even if she rolled her shoulder back in the tub as he stepped in, accentuating her chest and letting her hair flow around her in the tub like a mermaid.

Loki obviously stared her up and down, she ignored him and began to talk as he smirked, "So…one of the girls made a comment about how you can clone yourself?"

"Ah, yes, one of my more entertaining abilities."

"So…how do I know you're the real you right now. Or that you've ever been the real you?"

"Well," Loki said thoughtfully, "I guess there's no way to know, you just have to trust me when I tell you that I'm the real me. I've never had the need to use a clone with you, if that's what you're getting at, but I could."

Anna was very intrigued, "How…does it work exactly?"

Suddenly Anna felt two familiar hands on her shoulders, but she was still looking at Loki, she jumped and turned her head to see none other than…Loki.

"A bit like that." Loki, or second Loki, rather, said smoothly into her ear.

Anna relaxed a bit and suddenly jumped again as a third Loki appeared at the opposite edge of the bath, lifting her leg and massaging that for her.

The real Loki leaned up against this sink and smirked as Anna stared at the clones in disbelief.

He walked slyly over to the sit of the tub, and picked up a loose lock of Anna's hair, "Having fun yet pet?" Loki asked.

Anna felt marvelous, this was the kind of VIP treatment that no one, not even the most popular celebrities got. Loki definitely knew what he was doing.

Anna moaned lightly in agreeance.

"Would you object to me joining you, pet? I could use some relaxing."

Anna felt like she was in heaven, Loki was obviously making his move, and she was in no place to deny him. She opened her eyes lazily, he was already getting undressed. She eyed him up and down, just as he did to her when he first walked in. He was pale, very pale, but muscular and lean. Anna tried to keep her eyes closed as he undressed completely and got into the bath, but as he slinked in, she felt the two massaging Loki's disappear, leaving just the original swimming up next to her, planting kisses along her collar bone. He was rock hard, just like he was the last time he tried to make a move on her, but this time, it didn't upset her. She wanted more.

He moved his mouth to hers, and at that point she realized that there was no turning back. She kissed him back with such a passion that she felt like she was floating on air. Before she could even make a motion she felt herself being lifted out of the tub and toward the bedroom, never breaking the kiss. He threw her down on the bed and climbed on top of her. The feeling of his body on her sent shivers all over. He began to kiss up and down the entirety of her body, stopping in between her legs. They had barely begun their night together, and no man had ever made her feel this good. She was moaning and grabbing on to the sheets around her as she bucked her hips into his face. He came back up right as she was about to climax to cover her in more kisses. Several times she tried to take initiative, tried to get on top of him to show him that she had just as much power as he did, but it was useless, Loki was obviously in power here. He rubbed her clit as they kissed and moaned, he seemed to get as much pleasure bringing her to the edge as she did. Finally, after what felt like hours, Loki locked Anna's arms above her head and held them there with one hand, as the other pushed aside her flowing red hair from her breasts. He kissed her deep as he entered her, only to pull away to watch her face as he went faster and deeper. He was rough, perhaps a little too rough, but Anna enjoyed it more than she imagined she would. She was in ecstasy. When they finally came, they came together, and Loki collapsed on top of her, breathless.

They stayed silent for a few minutes as they just lay together as one. Loki rolled off of her and was the first to speak, "and THAT, my pet, is why I have no regrets about choosing you."

Anna didn't say anything in return, she didn't have regrets about what just happened, but she did feel a little sick thinking that Loki genuinely believed that they were to be married. She turned over and feel asleep almost instantly, the heat of Loki's body on her back a reminder of what she was getting herself into.

She awoke the next morning to an empty bed and decided to stay in it. Loki's bed gave her the most comfortable night's sleep she'd had in her entire life, and she had nowhere to be. She had a lot of time to think as she pulled the satin sheets close to her. She thought about how this right here could be her life forever if she was willing to leave her old life behind completely. It was a selfish thought, her friends and family were probably worried sick about her, but how was she going to explain what happened to her without being sent away to a mad house? It was well past noon when she decided to get out of bed and shower. She returned to the room to find that a maidservant had made the bed with fresh sheets and left her a sandwich, soup, and mug of drink.

She probably could go anywhere she wanted now, but she no longer wanted to. Just having the freedom was enough, and she had gotten quite used to quiet days reading alone. After lunch and an hour or so of reading, Anna felt herself yearning for a nap, but not long after she settled back into bed, Loki came into the room with a smile on his face.

"Don't tell me you haven't left bed yet, pet. It's nearly dinner."

Anna rolled over in the sheets," no, I've been up, just felt like a nap."

Loki kicked off his boots and crawled in next to her, lifting the sheets over their heads, "well as much as I enjoy you in bed, you really need to come to dinner tonight." Loki said as he kissed her lips.

Anna groaned and put her hands on the tips of his ears, massaging them gently, "do we really need dinner? I'd rather just call it a night." She moved her hands to the back of his head and pulled him in for a deeper kiss. Every moral fiber of her told her to tone it down, that she didn't want to be Loki's bride, but she had never been treated this well in her entire life, and if Loki performed like he did the night prior for the rest of their time together, then she would be a fool to go back. Something took over her when she was around Loki, it was like nothing she had ever experienced. She wrapped her legs around him, making him unable to pull away. She wanted him, and he was weaker than he would ever admit.

"How long before dinner?" Anna moaned into Loki's mouth.

"Perhaps an hour or two?" He responded.

She smiled, and knew that he felt it because he breathed her in and started pulling at her clothes, not that she had much on anyway.

He, on the other hand had many layers that required quite some work. Anna found herself taking off her pants and realized the opportunity that she had. She pulled off his underpants, and before he could realize what was going on, she grazed the tip of his erection with her tongue. He took a deep breath, telling her that he enjoyed that little taste, so she decided to delve deeper. She went from teasing to licking and sucking him harder and harder. His legs twitched as she swirled her tongue around him. She watched with a smile in her eyes, knowing that for the first time since she was taken from her, she was in charge. He tried to suppress his moans, but he couldn't, he was extremely close to orgasm, at which point, Anna stopped. She smirked, knowing that she had successfully teased him. That didn't last long though, as soon as Loki realized what she had done he jumped on top of her, pinning her with his legs.

"Now pet, that wasn't very nice."

Anna smiled, "No? You seemed to be enjoying yourself."

He bit down on her neck hard which caused her to squeal, "I don't like to be teased", he growled.

He flicked his wrist and Anna's wrists were bound to the bed. He then took both of his hands and grabbed on to Anna's waist, lifting it slightly. He entered her harshly, and without warning. She shrieked out in pain.

"Loki!" She shouted, half moaning."

"Now, now", he said breathlessly, "remember who the master is and who is the pet."

Anna didn't know why this turned her on so much, but the whole BDSM thing was working for her. In any other situation she would never accept being called a pet to another person, but at this moment, the harder Loki thrust into her, the more she wanted to agree with him. She was his pet, she would be his anything if he just kept pounding into her like he was. Every thrust was better than the next, and she was dripping with pleasure before she knew it, but Loki didn't stop there.

"Was that pleasurable, pet?" Loki asked as he drew nearer to her face.

Anna closed her eyes and looked away, she couldn't even speak to make a witty remark, but her body answered for her.

"Well, I'm not done." He said as he flipped her over, while the bind on her wrists was still being held.

She yelped, not expecting to be lying on her stomach. Loki pulled her hips up once again so her bum stuck up in the air, and again he entered her without warning. This time it was much less painful, since she was already soaking wet, but she still gasped in surprise.

Again he was fast and violent, causing Anna to bury her head in the sheets as he thrusted. He used one hand to rub her clit and the other to slap her a few times. Each time he did that it was harder and she shrieked louder. By the end of it all she couldn't stop moaning. It was like an out of body experience has he finally came all over her and she came for what felt like the hundredth time. Again, he collapsed on top of her. As he did, her wrists became unrestrained, and she was able to try to control her breathing.

This time, neither of them spoke, Loki just slid off of her and made his way to the bathroom. Anna sat on the bed waiting for him to exit so she too could get cleaned up for dinner, but when he finally exited, he looked out the window and then to her, eyeing her up and down.

Finally, he spoke, "I think we ran out of time for dinner, pet." I'm going to catch up with my family, but you're in no shape for an introductory meal, but tomorrow is a new day."

Anna just nodded, as watched him as he left. She wondered what exactly his roles were on this earth. He was gone most of the day and also worked into the night some days. She didn't like the empty feeling that she was being left with, nor did she understand it. Once again she reminded herself that she didn't want or need Loki, and that her stay would be temporary. It seemed that each day she had to remind herself more and more.

Anna took a quick bath, ate a roll off of her dinner plate, and decided to call it a night. Maybe she could get some type of normal sleeping schedule back.

Anna woke to the sun shining through the windows. She rolled over to say good morning to Loki, but he was nowhere to be found. In fact, his side of the bed looked untouched. Anna laid around for most of the day. She ate and read, and when the sun started to set, she showered to be as fresh as possible for meeting Loki's family.

Loki walked in for the first time that day in a rage. His skin was a pale blue, and getting bluer by the second, and his eyes were that familiar red glow.

He marched angrily to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. Anna sat on the loveseat with her book in her hand, ready to go to dinner, but something told her that dinner wasn't going to happen that night. She waited a moment before cautiously walking up to the bathroom door. She took a deep breath and tapped gently.

"Loki? Are you… are you alright?" she asked.

As frightened as she was by Loki's strange blue angry version of himself, she did care about him, at least a little.

Loki didn't answer, so Anna decided to take initiative and open the door. She peered in carefully, not wanting to get in the way of his rage.

He stood in just his pants gripping both ends of the sink with his hands. Veins ran up his arms, showing his strength. His skin was a dark blue, it didn't even look real, if Anna didn't know better she'd say it was body paint. She could see the reflection of his red eyes in the mirror, and the room was chilly, like what happens in movies when a ghost is nearby.

Anna took a step towards Loki and reached out her hand to touch his shoulder, but right as she was about to touch him, he whipped around and grabbed her wrist, hard. This wasn't the same Loki she had come to know, his anger had taken control of him. He quickly moved his arms to her shoulders, pushing her against the bathroom wall with a loud smack.

"Ow!" Anna shouted, "Loki, stop! You're hurting me!"

It wasn't just the force in which he started to bite, not nibble, on her neck. It was the icy cold grip he had on her shoulders. It burned and made her whole body temperature drop. Anna felt like she had been left out in the snow with nothing more than a thin dress on.

Loki grabbed hold of the neckline of her dress and with one yank, ripped it right down the middle. She tried to push him off of her, but the weight of his body pushing on hers was too much.

"Loki, stop it! I'm freezing!"

Without a word, Loki picked Anna up and threw her over his shoulder. He walked with her out of the bathroom and over to the bed, where he threw her down and ripped off the remainder of her dress.

Anna whimpered, the noise stopped Loki for a moment. Anna laid on the bed with her legs hanging off the end, Loki stood and stared at her with his body pinned to her calves so that she was stuck. For a quick second, Anna thought he would stop, but he didn't. He ripped off his pants, just like he ripped her dress. She looked down to see that all of him was blue, in turn making all of him freezing cold. She knew that if he entered her it would be freezing and painful.

Anna started to move and wiggle as much as she could under Loki's weight. He had her calves pushed against the bed frame and her arms locked above her head.  
>"Loki no!" she shouted, but it wasn't Loki she was shouting to, it was a monster.<p>

He positioned himself to enter her, the tip of his length just touching her entrance slightly. It was the most unpleasant sensation she had ever felt, colder than any ice she had ever touched. As he leaned forward, to enter her fully, she wiggled her leg free and lifted her leg so that her calf came in contact with his hip. It wasn't a very powerful movement, but it was enough to make Loki grab her leg to push it back down. As he did, Anna got her other leg free and was able to pull it back to kick him in his abdomen. This hurt Loki, enough to make him clutch his stomach. Anna 's wrists were still bound to the bed by magic, but her legs were completely free.

Loki growled as he rushed back to Anna to subdue her, he looked like a wild animal. With her legs free, Anna pulled them close to her, as she lie back on the bed, and when Loki got close enough, she kicked him hard in the chest with both feet. He had fallen back onto the ground with a large thud.

"UNTIE ME LOKI, I SWEAR TO ALL THAT IS HOLT, UNTIE ME."

She couldn't see him, she was stuck staring at the ceiling, the amount of movement she had in her neck wasn't much, definitely not enough to see a man lying on the floor.

Anna heard Loki get up, and she prepared herself to kick him again, but his footsteps got more distant.

"Loki, where are you-" She was interrupted by the bedroom door slamming, as it did, she regained control of her wrists.

Anna shot up out of bed, naked, freezing, and in pain. Loki was gone, leaving her terrified and alone.

Anna went to the bathroom, and started the hot water. As she did, she started to cry. Perhaps an hour ago, she was warming up to the idea of Loki, but now she was certain that she wanted to go home. The last person she wanted to see was Loki, so she got clean, got dressed, and made her way to the door to go speak to the only other person she knew in the palace, Loki's mother, Frigga, but when she tried to turn the door handle, she was unable to. She jiggled it as hard as she could, thinking that maybe Loki's roughness jammed it, but it was no use, she had been locked in the room.

Anna backed away from the door with tears in her eyes. She began breathing heavily and had to sit down on the love seat, doubled over to catch her breath. She was in a panic. When she finally calmed down to a gentle cry, she went over to the table where dinner had been left for her as she bathed. None of it looked the slightest bit appetizing, so she put on a night dress and crawled into the same bad that Loki attacked her in. She pulled the covers tight to her chin, wishing that she would wake up to find that her horrible day had all been a dream.

Anna was startled awake by the sound of the bedroom door opening. Her eyes shot open, but she didn't dare move a muscle. From behind her, she felt a body crawl into the bed and breathe a deep sigh. It must have been late in the night; the moon was shining brightly into the bedroom windows. Anna tried to steady her breath, but as Loki moved closer to her, she began to cry softly, it wasn't until she let out a sniffle, that he realized that she was awake.

"Anna" Loki said quietly, "Anna, let me explain." He put his arm on her shoulder to turn her towards him. As he touched her, she flinched and made a whimper. He pulled back.

She turned towards him slowly, "How long has the door been locked?"

Loki looked confused, "That can't be what-"

"Don't dance around the question, have I ever really been free here?"

"I didn't think it would cause an issue, but I don't want you going out without my consent, there's a myriad of things that could get you in trouble here."

Anna didn't respond, she was trying to read his expression.

Loki went on, "I bet you want to know why I turn blue sometimes."

Anna scoffed, "I'm more interested in why you attacked me today."

Loki sighed, "I'm a Frost Giant, I wasn't born here on Asgard, I was taken in as a baby. The Frost Giant part of me takes over when I get angry. I turn into the Frist Giant version of myself. I…I guess I lose control."

Anna didn't respond again, he seemed apologetic, but that didn't remedy the fact that he tried to rape her.

"Anna, you have to know that the person that did that to you, wasn't me."

She continued to glare at him, "That doesn't me it won't happen again. I want freedom from this room. I need to know that if you try to attack me, I can get out."

"No." Loki said quickly, without thought.

"No? Fine, then I want to go home, I'm done with this, Loki, I can't continue to try to give this a chance if I'm going to be a prisoner here."

Loki let out a heavy sigh, "You're not going anywhere, pet." He said coolly, "I tried to keep up the appearance that you had control here, because I could tell that's what you liked, but let me let you in on a little secret, you're my pet, I'm in control, and what I say goes."

Anna was frightened again; she inched away from Loki, who kept leaning in closer to her, "I am the master. You are the pet. And you will do as you're told."

Loki wasn't playing with Anna, he was serious. She had no words.

"Now go to bed, Anna."

She looked at him with wide-open, frightened eyes, but she did as she was told. She knew that if she didn't, Loki could very well turn back into a Frost Giant, which truly scared her more than the thought of being stuck in the palace for the rest of her life as Loki's play thing.

Loki laid down too, eventually falling asleep. Anna, on the other hand didn't even try to sleep until the sun rose and she felt Loki's weight leave the bed. It was only when she was alone in her prison once again that she was able to fall asleep. Not even Loki's cloud-like mattress could give her a comfortable night's rest after the day she just had.

Anna woke up mid day to the sound of a maidservant delivering lunch.

"Oh, sorry dearie, didn't mean to disturb you." The maidservant said sweetly.

"Oh, no, it's fine. It's much later than I usually – ah!" Anna sat up a bit too fast without thinking about the injuries that she had sustained the day prior.

The maidservant looked at Anna with concern in her eyes, "Are those from Master Loki?" She started towards Anna, pulling what looked like a first aid kit out of her apron.

Anna just looked down in shame, embarrassed at how weak she must have looked.

The maidservant must have been able to tell, "Don't you worry about it dearie, Loki has a lot of anger holed up inside of him and sometimes it comes out at the worst times."

Anna looked up at the maidservant's big caring brown eyes, "Have you…"

"Have I seen him go full Frost Giant? Oh yes, I've worked here since before Loki was first carried through those doors. If he was a pup, he'd be the runt of the litter. All his life in the shadows of his brother." The maidservant smiled to herself as she dabbed Anna's bruises with some kind of cold liquid, "But he's a good boy, with a big heart. Loves his mother, that one, more than anyone in the world. He acts so tough in front of everyone, but he's a mush, don't be afraid of him, he won't hurt you if you don't let him."

Anna smiled back at her, "actually, when he did all of this to me, I kicked him a few times to the point of him falling to the ground."

The maidservant's jaw dropped, "I bet he was as shocked as I am, I don't think a girl has ever not been willing to do anything he says. I know it's hard to believe, but he's a good boy. A tough egg to crack, but once you do, you'll love him, just give it time."

Anna sighed, "I don't think I've ever been so scared of someone in my life."

"But before that, you weren't scared of him? It's the Frost Giant in him that frightens you, if you're the girl that can subdue that side of him, then you're the one for him. That's what he needs. Someone who can put that dark side of him in his past."

Anna pondered on what the maidservant had said as she finished tending to her wounds.

"How's that dearie?" She asked as she backed away from Anna.

"A lot better actually. Thank you."

The maidservant smiled and turned to leave Anna to her lunch.

"I'm sorry," Anna called after her, "I didn't get your name."

The maidservant smiled, "I'm Ragna. Don't worry, dearie, we will be seeing a lot more of each other, Loki has assigned me solely to you. Looks like he wants to keep you his little secret."

As much as Anna wanted to believe Ragna that Loki was a good man, the idea of him hiding her from everyone else was extremely unsettling. Anna wished that she had taken her opportunity to be free while she had it.

Anna tried to go on with her days the way she had before seeing the dark side of Loki, but she felt herself looking over her shoulder constantly to make sure that she was alone. She sighed a deep breathe of relief every time the door opened and it was only Ragna.

This went on for the next 3 days. All Anna was able to do was read, eat, shower, sleep, and have menial small talk with Ragna. Anna wondered if Loki would ever return. Where was he sleeping? This was his room. If he didn't want her here, why didn't he just move her somewhere else or send her home.

In her solitary time she also did a lot of thinking about what Ragna had told her about Loki. Back home, Anna knew where she stood on abusive relationships. She knew that if she was ever in one she would get out. But she also never thought that an abusive person would have someone on their side trying to plea for their humane side. Ragna was the kindest person that Anna had met since being taken to this world, how could someone so kind care for someone if they were truly terrible?

By day four without Loki, all Anna wanted to do was talk to him. Maybe reason with him on the whole confinement thing and see if they could get along without him going all Frost Giant on her again. Maybe it was the lack of interaction with anyone other than Ragna that was driving her to want Loki, maybe it was the stupid young girl mentality that hated sleeping alone, or maybe it was just that Ragna had caused Anna to think rationally about the situation. But Anna had to admit that she really missed Loki.

If she was on Earth, she'd be all over her computer at this moment. Stalking every social media of Loki's to find out what he's doing. But all she could do was wait.

Two more days went by without him. She tried to ask Ragna about him, but she said that she wasn't allowed to talk about such things. Anna swore that if she hit a full week of solitude that she was going to find a way to jump out of the giant window in the room. She hated that window, anyway. It mocked her. She would stare out it, but all she saw was an unused courtyard. She wasn't even able to catch a glimpse of anyone manicuring the lawn or trimming the hedges. Anna would daydream about sitting next to the window at the table with a book and something catching her eye from her peripheral vision. She would turn to see Loki out there, staring up at her and smiling. She would gesture to him and finally get him back, but no such thing ever happened. Anna found herself going to bed earlier and sleeping in later, trying to speed up the days until something, anything interesting happened to her.

The next day Anna woke up to a noise in her room that she assumed to be Ragna, just a slight movement in the direction of the table area. She could feel that the opposite side of the bed was still made, telling her that Loki hadn't appeared in the night. It was a whole week without him, and Anna had lost the energy to get out of bed. She just wanted to sleep to no end. She tried to go back to sleep, but her body was obviously fully charged and not prepared to let her do what she wanted most. She groggily rose out of bed to eat the breakfast that Ragna had left for her before tiptoeing out the door, not to wake Anna.

Anna barely had her eyes open as she stepped onto the icy floor when she realized that there was another person in the room. Her eyes opened wide in shock, letting in too much light at once. She could only make out a figure as her eyes adjusted, but it was obvious who it was. There Loki was, in all black and gold, sitting at the table waiting to have breakfast with Anna.

A million and one things ran through Anna's brain. She wanted to slap him for leaving her for so long, question him on where he's been, hug him for finally coming back before she went mad, but none of those seemed quite right so Anna cautiously walked to the table and took a seat.

Loki stared at her inquisitively, as if he was waiting for her to make the first move. She poured herself some drink and sipped from the cup without breaking eye contact with him. They both began to eat their breakfasts in silence.

Once Anna made it through her eggs without a word, she cleared her throat to speak, Loki dropped his fork in excitement.

"If you want to hear me say something so bad, maybe you should be the one to talk."

Loki smirked, the first change in his face since Anna first noticed him, "But you were the one to talk first, love."

Anna looked down at her breakfast in defeat, that was dumb of her, she thought, but he was right. She did talk first.

"Okay, then I'll keep talking. Where do you get off locking me in this room and then leaving me alone in it for a god damn week? I nearly jumped out the window to escape, you drove me mad."

"I had a lot to think about." Loki retorted.

"Well, you sure had plenty of time to do so, and what conclusion did you come to, Loki? Because I too had a lot of time to come to some conclusions myself, you know."

"And what would that be?" Loki asked

"I asked first."

"I suppose you did, well, perhaps I was being a bit harsh locking you in here, but I'm not prepared to let you roam the castle on your own, so I'm going to give you privilege to exit this room only with the chaperone of either me or Ragna."

"Why must you treat me like a child?" Anna knew that she should accept the guided freedom, but she knew deep down that it wasn't enough.

"Well, because you're mine."

"What if I don't want to be yours?"

"Is that really how you feel, I've heard that you've been talking to Ragna.."

"What has she told you?" It's not that Anna said anything explicit about Loki, but she was sure that Ragna watched Anna's opinion of Loki change from fear and hatred to understanding and longing.

"She said that you missed me dearly," Loki threw his arm over his head in exaggeration, "you longed for me daily and were going to lose your mind if I didn't return shortly."

"Is that why you came back? Because you didn't want me to off myself?"

Loki furrowed his brows, "I missed you too." His words were barely audible.

Anna chuckled, "What? I can't quite hear you?' She said loudly.

"I missed you too." He said a little louder.

Anna moved away from her chair and closer to Loki, "Nope, still can't quite make out what you said!"

Loki grabbed both sides of Anna's face and brought it to his, looking directly into her eyes. Anna shuttered, remembering his forceful attack just a week earlier. But then she remembered what Ragna said. This wasn't that Loki that attacked her, this was regular Loki. Who may have attachment and control issues, but who isn't evil.

"I missed you. I missed you loads, but it's something I had to do. I had to think, without you standing over me, influencing my thoughts. Filling my head with desire and craziness."

"That was…oddly sweet, I think?" Anna said.

Loki smiled and pulled her in for light kiss. Anna could tell that they were both yearning for more, but she wasn't sure it was a very good idea.

"Can we, move slowly into this?" Anna asked apprehensively.

Loki kissed her again lightly on the lips, "Would you like to see the rest of the palace?"

Anna's eyes lit up, "Yeah! Yeah, I just have to shower!"

Anna rushed to the bathroom, she was thrilled to leave that stale bedroom air. She showered quicker than she ever had, not even bothering to wash her hair, and changed into the first thing she could find as Loki waited quietly ready a book.

"I'm ready! Let's go!" She said excitedly, as Loki, who was sporting what seemed to be a genuine smile, stood up and took her hand.

When she first exited the bedroom, she was greeted with a familiar sight. A hallway that seemed to belong only to the one room. They went down it and were in a grand foyer of sorts, with large doorways that led to even more hallways with rooms.

"I'm going to take you to my favorite room in the entire palace." Loki said slyly.

"If it's back to your room, I will not be amused." Anna joked.

Loki lead her to a room with incredibly high ceilings and giant columns that seemed to go on forever. It was a brighter room, light shined through the gaps in the walls covered by smaller columns and intricate circular designs. If Anna knew anything about architecture, this building took decades to complete. In the center of the room was a throne that put the ones that Anna had seen on television to shame. It was humungous and gold, matching the rest of the room. Two horn-like shapes jutted out from the sides, and there were golden steps leading up to it, all decorated with more intricate design patterns.

Anna took quite some time to process it all, "Loki," Anna breathed, "this is beautiful."

Loki smiled, "It is, isn't it? I've coveted this throne my entire life, and I'm on my way to earning it."

Anna frowned, she remembered Lale telling her that the reason that Loki was seeking a wife was because his brother was to take the throne, "Isn't that your brother's throne."

Loki's face immediately fell, and Anna regretted saying anything.

"Perhaps, but once that oath does sit on that throne, he's bound to make some stupid mistake. Then I will be able to prove that I am the obvious choice."

Anna gently put her hand on Loki's forearm, trying to calm him down before he lost it, "I suppose you weren't given a fair chance before?"

Loki bit his lip, visibly trying to contain his rage, "No." He mumbled deeply, I wasn't."

His eyes flashed red, and Anna's heart began to beat like a hummingbird.

"Shh, it's okay, darling." Anna cooed, as she stroked his arm, "Look at me, where is your brother now, hm? Why is he gone while you get to be here with me?" Anna stroked Loki's cheek as he clenched his jaw.

"Off in some witless battle, I suppose."

Loki locked eyes with her and she gave him a warm smile, "And you're here enjoying leisurely days, taking me on a walk in the palace, doesn't sound like he's the winner to me."

Loki unclenched his jaw and smirked, "That's a little narcissistic of you, my dear."

Anna kissed him softly, "I think that's enough for today, let's go back to your room."

Loki placed his arms around Anna, "Our room, love."

Anna responded by putting her arms around his neck, "Right, of course." She smiled and kissed him once more, with a bit more passion.

Going back to the room so soon was not what Anna truly wanted, but the last thing she wanted to do was see Loki lose it, so she opted for the safest route. As they walked into the room together, Loki placed himself behind her with his arms around her, he breathed in her hair. She noted not to bring up his family issues again, for those were definitely a sore spot for him.

After standing in the doorway for a bit, Anna broke the silence. She turned to him and put her arms back around his neck, "You're not going to leave me again, are you?"

"Hmm…are you staying that you were unhappy without me?" He smirked

"We already went over the whole missing each other thing, Loki."

"Well, that would mean that you would miss me an awful lot if you returned back home, no?"

Anna thought for a moment, "I would miss this." Before he could ask what she was talking about, she kissed him hard on the mouth. She did want to go slow, but any conversation gone wrong could result in the Loki she feared more than anything. They kissed for a while, Loki's skills in the make out department put Anna on cloud nine. They moved to the bed after quite some time, but neither made any moves to take off one another's clothes. They just laid in bed and kissed, until Anna began to drift off to sleep.

"Darling, it's nearly time for lunch, and you're going to bed?" Loki asked gently as he held her.

"I think I could use a little nap." She said groggily.

The next thing Anna knew, she woke up in a shiver. The body warmth that rocked her to sleep was gone, and night had fallen. Two plates of dinner waited on the table, but Loki was nowhere to be found. She started to get nervous. She didn't know what she was feeling. When she was with Loki, she was afraid of his power, when she was without Loki, she desperately craved him. She went to the bath to try to calm herself down, this time taking a full bath rather than a hasty one. She was only in her towel, with her long wet hair dripping down her back when Loki returned.

Anna's heart skipped a beat, "Where were you? I didn't know you were going anywhere!" She ran up to him and delivered a long kiss.

"You fell asleep, dear, I on the other hand wasn't tired at all."

"Well, I woke up and you were gone so I took a bath and I didn't know if you would come back, I got worried." She realized that she was going on like a child and slowed herself down.

Loki took a moment to look her up and down, he had a questioning look on his face, "…where could I possibly go, Anna?"

Anna was quiet, and when words did come out, they came with teary eyes and a tiny voice, "you left me for a week." Once she got the words out she really started to cry.

Loki picked her up bridal style, and brought her to the loveseat. She sat on his lap, really making her feel like a child.

"You left for a week and I was all alone. You attacked me and locked me in here and left me. I didn't know if I was to spend the rest of my life here and then you come back and all I want to do is be with you but I don't know why because you really scare me when I'm with you-" Anna was really sobbing now, taking heaving breathes, barely able to make words.

Loki shushed her, "I…I didn't think it would affect you so much, you were so tough and…I need to think again, I'll be back."

Anna started to cry even harder. Loki lifted her legs off of him and slid out from under her, making his way to the door.

"Loki! Don't!"

He didn't turn back, he just kept going. Quickly and quietly, until once again, Anna was all alone.

_Loki POV_

When Loki was a child, he was sad a lot. Even though he believed he was Odin's true son until more recently, it was always obvious that Thor was Odin's favorite son, and while Loki and his mother formed a wonderful relationship, Loki always felt the hole that had formed in his heart by the lack of a relationship with his father.

Now that Loki was older, and knew the truth about his blood status, he no longer got sad. Anger replaced sadness in his range of emotions, and right now, he was furious. He could feel the ice running through his veins, a sort of release rushed over him. How did Anna become so attached to him? She wasn't supposed to be like the others, that's why she isolated her.

If only she knew that nearly her entire time spent in Asgard was a lie. He did intend for her to be his final selection, the woman he was to marry, but he wasn't going to force her down the aisle, if she declined his offer to wed, he would have had to send her home. So he continued to competition, lying to Anna about sending the rest of the girls back to their homes. His mother was actually the one who came up with that solution; she was the one who taught him how to be a trickster. She also desperately wanted him to find a wife, and be happy, so if that meant separating a promising girl from the rest and lying to her to get her to open up to him, then that was what she was going to suggest Loki do.

But now he's ruined Anna, turned her into a crazy person by isolating her away like a glass doll. He didn't want to send her home, but he didn't want to be with her if she was going to act like every other girl Loki had ever been with. They always get clingy and dependent. Loki loved having a "pet" in the bedroom, but when it was time for real life, he wanted a girl who could keep him on his toes, a girl like Anna was when he first met her. Loki reminisced to the first day they met, with a smile. He sent guards down with specific instructions on what he expects in his woman, and whoever found Anna deserved a pay raise. He remembered calling Anna feisty, something he found very attractive. But that wasn't the same Anna that was in his bedroom crying. That Anna was weak and broken. He wasn't the type of person to console anyone, even if he liked them as much as he liked Anna.

Loki searched for his mother, to no avail. She must have been out of the palace. As he went for a walk through the endless hallways he found himself following what sounded like a party. Loki opened the door to the enormous dining hall to find that his brother had returned from battle. Loki didn't even have to ask if they had been victorious, all of the warriors and young people of Asgard were in attendance, all drunk and laughing and singing. This was the type of party that went on for days, something that Loki had zero interest in. He turned on his heel, to escape before anyone saw him and nearly made it when he heard his name being boomed throughout the room, "LOKI! BROTHER!"

Loki closed his eyes and held his breath, hoping that his brother wouldn't force him to join to festivities. He heard Thor's heavy footsteps behind him, and then felt the strength of his grip squeezing his shoulders. He turned Loki around while wearing the most ridiculous goofy smile that Loki had ever seen. His brother was very drunk, and very happy.

"Brother! You look upset!" Thor screamed.

Loki's was forcing himself to pull in his anger, if he was to turn Frost Giant in front of all of these Asgardians, it would surely be the end of him.

"Have a drink! Enjoy yourself! Go get one of your women that you're planning to marry!"

Loki thought about who he had left in the competition. When he decided to isolate Anna, he got rid of the other mortals almost immediately. If he was going to be with a mortal, it was going to be Anna. He loved sleeping with mortals, he always did. Their fragility, how mysterious he was to them, but he never planned on marrying one of the mortals, not until he found Anna. Not even the Asgardian women treated him like Anna, they all so obviously wanted to please him, it was great, but it gold old fast. Now there were 4 Asgardians left in the competition, Freya, Gala, Magna, and Elin, and it was getting tough. They all obviously hated each other, but also had formed a bond since they didn't get to see much of other people. They weren't allowed to just roam the grounds, so they spent most of their time together in their quarters or in their gardens.

Freya was the sweetest of them all, Loki believed that she truly wasn't in the competition for the title, she truly had feelings for Loki. She had long, straight blonde hair, fair skin, and deep blue eyes. She would have been Loki's parents' pick for sure. A mother-like figure and a girl who would keep to herself. Gala and Magna were fierce. Natural born fighters much like Loki's childhood friend, Sif. They both had dark hair, Gala's fell just past her shoulders and was wavy, Magna's was a bit longer but very curly. Gala's green eyes were kind, but Loki felt like she may be more interested in his position in his family rather than himself, and Magna had dark eyes and was all about passion, which Loki didn't dislike, but it made it impossible for her to be a true contender to be his wife, Loki just kept her there for fun. If Anna didn't lose it, Magna would have been the next to leave, but she was the one he spent most of his nights with during the time away from Anna, just to get his mind off of her. Elin was one of the last ones that caught Loki's attention. He didn't even realize that she was there until after he had separated Anna from everyone. She would have been his pick if Anna decided to leave, mostly because she reminded him of Anna. Elin wasn't nearly as independent as Anna, but she had a playful attitude and occasionally made sassy remarks towards Loki that he loved. He also reminded her of Anna with her looks, she too had long wavy hair, but it was a natural light brown, as opposed to Anna's dyed red. But if Loki needed a replacement for Anna, she would do nicely. But Loki would much prefer to fix Anna than to replace her.

Loki thought about who he would bring to this party. Freya would feel uncomfortable, she didn't seem like much of a drinker or a dancer. Gala would get along with everyone, but she wouldn't be of much interest to him because she would just mingle and leave him by himself. Loki wouldn't be surprised if Magna left with another man, which would be totally unacceptable. Elin would be a reasonable choice, she would probably have a good time, and it would bring her closer to Loki if he did choose her, but Loki wasn't in the mood to spend time with anyone. He just wanted to talk to his mother and get some advice on how to handle Anna.

Loki must have been deep in thought because he came to when his brother started waving his giant hands in front of his face, "HELLO! Loki? Are you there? Did you fall asleep with your eyes open?"

Loki shook his head and looked at Thor with a blank stare.

"A woman? Loki, I suggested you get a woman, have a drink, and be happy. Why are you so glum, brother?" Thor was shouting.

Loki sighed, anything he said to Thor wouldn't matter, he wouldn't remember it in a few hours, so he might as well give it a try, "Actually brother," Loki's voice wasn't much higher than the hum of the party, Thor leaned in close to hear him, "the reason why I'm upset is one of the women, one that I have been keeping separate from the rest. She's…." Loki paused, "special, I suppose."

"A special woman! How wonderful! Bring her, brother!" Thor patted Loki so hard on the back, Loki had to stretch to make sure that he didn't break his spine.

"I left her crying, Thor. I doubt she wants to party."

"Nonsense, brother! When I'm upset, I always have a drink! You forget everything! How about this, I'll retrieve the girl, and you start drinking!" Thor pushed the goblet up to Loki's face and made him chug nearly a quarter of the cup. Loki began to cough as the liquid rushed down his throat.

"Thor, it's probably best if you-" Loki wanted to stop him, but he was already rushing through the door. Loki took a seat and continued to sip from his enormous cup of alcohol. His head was already buzzing.

_Anna POV_

Anna couldn't calm down. She had never had a full on panic attack before, but she was sure that she was having one now. Every breath she took was cut short; she was gasping for air and crying. She clutched her chest and put her head in between her knees, but nothing could calm her down. Loki had been gone for quite some time, but it seemed as if her body wouldn't let him go. It was the craziest feeling, in her head she wasn't crying over Loki anymore, she knew that her panic was irrational, but she couldn't convey the message to her body. She moved to the bed to lie on her back. With her eyes closed and hands on her forehead, after what felt like hours, she slowly started to take longer breaths.

That was, until, the bedroom door flew open with an unrecognized force. At first, Anna feared that Loki had returned angrier than ever, she jumped out of bed in one great leap and started hyperventilating all over again.

"Human! Human, no! Don't fear!" the giant man shouted.

"Who are you?" Anna asked in one short breath.

"I'm Thor! And I am here, at my brother's request, to bring you to a party. Are you ready to go to a party?"

Anna began to calm down again, this man, Thor, was tall like Loki, but much more muscular. He had a more tanned complexion, unlike Loki who looked like he'd never even heard of the sun. He had half of his long wavy blonde hair pulled back, and a dopey grin on his face. He was visibly harmless, while also capable of causing hard if he so desired. But most of all, he seemed very sweet. Like a puppy.

Anna smiled back at Thor, who hadn't stopped smiling since he began talking. In fact, he just stood there, smiling with his hand outstretched, waiting for Anna to take it as she examined him.

Anna took a deep breath, despite calming herself down, she still felt as if she had just ran a marathon, but despite how tired she was, she wasn't about to miss a chance to see outside these four walls, especially if Loki was there, "Well…I suppose it's alright if Loki said that it's alright. Am I…uh…dressed for a party?"

Thor smiled even wider, "You're beautiful! Hurry, the party awaits!"

Anna held on to his hand. It was gigantic holding hers, like a father and his child, but incredibly gentle. It was hard to believe that this was Loki's brother.

Thor led her through many twisted halls, Anna hoped she would have instruction back, or she'd be lost in the palace for days. Thor had a dance to his step, and Anna noticed that he must be very drunk. They got to a large set of double doors, Thor pushed them open with a big shove, and everyone turned towards them when they boomed against the walls. When they saw Thor, they all cheered. Everyone except for Loki, whom Anna noticed immediately sitting at the table closest to the door, alone with a big mug. He just raised his cup and smirked. Thor pulled Anna along, still very gently, but with a mission.

"Do you drink, miss?" He asked kindly.

"Uh, yeah, sure." She said, unsure if she would be getting the same drink she was given every day. He handed her a mug like Loki's filled with another questionable liquid. She took a sip of it, it was delicious but also somewhat bitter. It came along with a burning sensation down her throat, similar to wine, but with a much higher alcohol content.

"It is delicious!" Thor said, it was more of a statement than a question.

Anna took another gulp and nodded with a smile on her face.

"Tonight we celebrate our victories! Enjoy yourself…" Thor stopped waiting for Anna to fill in the blank with her name. Something told Anna that he would have asked much earlier if he wasn't so drunk.

"…Anna." She answered.

"Ah! Anna! Wonderful! Enjoy Anna! Future wife of my brother!"

Anna cringed; she wished he hadn't said that.

Thor walked away to talk to a group of men, leaving Anna by herself. She felt like she was at a high school dance with her ex boyfriend sitting across the room. She was afraid to talk to the other women, all of them seemed so much stronger and more put together than Anna, so she took a deep breath and walked over to Loki, who was sitting alone eyeing her from his seat across the room.

_Loki POV_  
>When Thor blasted into the room with Anna holding his hand, Loki felt his heart drop. He was so stupid for letting him go get her, he was too good looking and kind, everything that Anna disliked about Loki, Thor had. She could fall for him in an instant. Loki took a big swig of drink. Thor pulled Anna by hand over to the table with the alcohol and gave her a mug, poor thing had no idea what she was getting into, Loki watched her take her first sip and smirked, her grimace was adorable.<p>

"Shake out of it, Laufeyson. You have to let her go." Loki mumbled to himself.

She stood there for a bit, talking to Thor. Loki had to look down at his hands to make sure he wasn't literally turning green with jealousy. He watched Thor walk away from Anna. She swayed to the music for a moment, and then locked eyes with Loki. Half of him prayed she would come to him, the other half prayed she wouldn't. He didn't know what he would do if she started crying again.

She sat down next to him, and took a sip out of her cup, "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, I don't know anyone else…I could just sit here in silence if you'd like."

Loki pitied her with her sad look and small demeanor. She looked as if she was shrinking into herself, nothing like the Anna he knew was in there somewhere.

"Sit up straight." He said, maybe a bit crueler than he intended.

She obeyed, and he rolled his eyes. When did he gain such a power on her?

"Drink." He said, while barely looking at her. Perhaps she would act normal if she could get drunk and forget about the fear that Loki accidentally instilled in her.

She took a small sip and put the cup back into her lap.

Loki huffed, "No" he said, as if he was a teacher. He lifted the mug to her mouth and tipped it, like Thor did to him, "all of it."

Anna's eyes got wide, but she chugged. He had to admit, it was impressive. She drank to the last drop was gone.

Loki chuckled and finished off his mug too, "Now I bet you're feeling better, how about you get us both some more?"

He handed her his mug, she got up a bit too quick and stumbled, he put his hands around her waist before she fell, "steady." She balanced herself off and went to get refills.

Loki was already seeing double, which is the main reason why he sent Anna to get refills. When he touched her waist, he felt a spark. He wanted her, and he could tell that it wasn't just the alcohol in his system. He was absolutely torn, perhaps less than an hour ago he was almost sure that he would send her home so that she wouldn't go mental, and now he wanted to be back in bed with her. He didn't get to think about it too much before Anna returned with the drinks.

She handed one to him in silence and sat down as she began to drink her own, she had graduated from sips to gulps. Loki grinned as he too gulped his down and watched her from the corner of his eye.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, she was swaying in her chair.

She giggled, "This is the strongest drink I've ever had in my life."

"Why don't we take these to go?" Loki said, as he put his arm around her.

She slapped his hand off of her shoulder, Loki jumped back a bit, her directness startled him.

"I've only juust got heeere! Calm eet down, Loowki."

Her slurred speech told Loki that she had had enough, but she seemed pretty attached to her mug. He was oddly turned on by her disagreement. It showed him that she didn't fear him while drunk, she had her liquid courage.

"But it's warm and sticky in here, wouldn't it be nice to see the stars in the garden?"

Anna's eyes grew wide and put on a big smile, "Oooh yes!"

She got up slowly, as did he. She held on to his arm for support, and he did his best to stay steady, he left his last mug behind, but she took hers. He feared that if he continued to drink he would pass out on her.

They both laughed as they stumbled over their own feet as they made their way to the garden, it was a separate garden form the rest of the girls, Loki was drunk but not stupid, he wasn't going to give up his secret just yet.

As soon as they reached the garden Anna threw herself on the grass and laid down on her back, spilling plenty of liquid all over herself.

"Damn!" She shouted a bit too loud.

Loki laughed, and laid down next to her, pulling her in to his side to warm her up, the poor soaked thing was shivering.

They stayed silent for a long while, Anna broke the silence, "Eef youu want tuh send me home," she said softly, "you can."

Loki remained thoughtful as he looked up at the sky, "I don't want to, I feel as if I had to, you're losing it."

She hit him on the chest and sat up, "That's all you, you shit!" she seemed to regain a bit of control over her speech as she shouted. Loki tried to shush her, but there was no point, "You turn all blue and cold and you act like it's a one time deal, but then it happens again. And you say you won't leave but as soon as I cry a little bit you run off for how long now a month? A year? Forever as I get old and gross in that room without a chance to live?" She was very loud.

Loki walked up to her, but she pushed him away, "Listen we have a lot to talk about, but not now, we need a clear head."

This time she walked up to him, she got right in his face, she was angry, not sad, "I can't even find my head around you, can't you see that?"

Loki wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but she was so close to his face. He grabbed both sides of her face and pulled her in for a hard, passionate kiss. She was stunned at first, and nearly pulled away, but then she got into it and parted her mouth. They moved down to the grass and Loki climbed on top of her as they deepened their kiss. "You drive me crazy too." He said into her mouth. She ran her hands through his hair, as he began to pull at her dress.

"No." She moaned into his mouth, it took everything in him to pause, but he was not about to ruin this.

They were both breathing heavily, as she held on to the two sides of his unbuttoned shirt, "Inside, it's too cold." She mumbled.

Loki didn't have to be told twice, He lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He walked quickly to his room, which luckily wasn't far away. They stopped several times to make out against a wall, her gripping her legs tighter to not fall, one of them losing a part of their outfit as they kept moving.

Finally, they made it to the bedroom, he threw her down on the bed, obviously throwing her for a spin, for a moment, he forgot how much they had both drank.

He ripped at what remained of her clothes, getting them off faster than he ever had before. He then took a step back just to look at her. She was truly beautiful. That mermaid like hair draped around her, even in its' tangled mess looked perfect. Her full figured curves, her pale skin glowing in the moonlight. He cupped one of her breasts in his hands and bent down to kiss it. He then moved to her neck and down her body, spending the most time between her legs. She arched her back in pleasure. As he did this, he pulled off the remainder of his clothes and started to tug at himself, slowly and softly at first, but then harder, her pleasure pleased him greatly. Right before he was about to finish, he stopped. It was like torture, but he wanted to be one with her completely.

He began to kiss her on the mouth again as she put her arms around him, they moved completely on to the bed, he looked into her eyes right as he was about to enter her. She didn't seem scared or crazy, like he had seen, she was happy and solemn. It was the old Anna back again. He entered her slowly, and it took all he had not to go too fast or hard. She didn't come as quickly or violently as he had grown accustom to, this experience was more slow and romantic. Her nails scratched his back as he thrust into her, they were both in ecstasy.

Rather than several minutes of panted silence, the two never separated from one another, Loki falling asleep with her cradled to his body, using each other to stay warm.

The next morning, Loki woke up first, but rather than beginning his day, as he normally would, he waited for Anna to stir. He needed everything to start off perfect if he wanted to have a serious talk about their future together, if they did plan on having a future together at all.

His head pounded, so he wrapped the two of them in a blanket and had a maidservant bring them some tea. If he was hurting, he couldn't imagine what Anna was going to be like, Asgardian parties were no joke, and Anna had nearly two full mugs of drink.

It took some time, but eventually Anna turned into Loki's body and moaned. Her face was one of pain.

"Unnnnngh, Loki…" She said into his chest.

He reached over for the tea, "Here love, sit up, drink."

"I can't sit up, I'll die." She responded, burying her head into the blankets.

Loki chuckled, even in her hung over stupor, he could tell that she was more Anna and less miserable, well, figuratively speaking.

Anna was obviously trying to go back to sleep, but was failing horribly. Eventually she pushed herself up with eyes nearly closed, "Help." She said hoarsely.

Loki gave her the tea that she drank cautiously. When she finished she looked a bit better, she was able to keep her eyes open. Her hair was a wild main sticking out all over the place.

"We have to talk today, love." Loki said gently, with his hand on her thigh.

"When did that become a thing?"

"Talking? Since quite a young age, I believe."

She smacked his hand playfully, "No, calling me that."

Loki didn't realize that he started calling her 'love', it was just a natural transition from 'pet', "Oh, I don't know, I didn't mean anything by it, just a term."

"It's a little weird, dude."

Loki smirked, "Maybe we don't have to talk, you seem better than ever."

"Well I feel like I'm wearing a lead necklace." Anna joked, "What did you want to talk about. Speak slowly and quietly." Anna laid back down in the bed, Loki propped up onto his shoulder next to her. He could feel her eyes gaze at his muscles. Now that they were both laying there naked with a blanket covering only parts of them, she really had time to examine his physique. Loki felt a bit like he was on display, but they had never been nude together in the light, not pouncing on each other.

"Well, I noticed that you have been upset lately, and I want to fix that."

"I swear if you're going to tell me that you're leaving again, I'm getting your brother to help me make an escape, I'm done being locked in her, Loki, and now I have a man on the outside."

Loki was shocked at how she had snapped back into her old self. It made him not want to have this conversation at all, but if she snapped back things could get awful again.

"No, I think I see that keeping you in here is an awful idea, and right now you seem perfect, you're the girl I met on that first day again." Anna looked confused, "But when you get…what's the word? Depressed? You change into an entirely different person. That needy, sad, pathetic girl isn't who you are, and I need to know that she won't be coming back. Because I don't care for her one bit." He paused. He knew that he was being a bit harsh, but he didn't know how else to say how he felt, he wanted to be completely honest with her. She looked concerned, she knew that Loki had the power to send her home, and it seemed that she didn't want that, which made Loki happy.

"If you think that sending you home will remedy your sadness, then I am ready to say goodbye. Because sad Anna is not the Anna that I want to be with, do you understand?"

Anna looked as if she was deep in thought, "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to spring all of this on your before breakfast. I wanted to wait, it just kind of spilled out."

Anna remained silent; Loki desperately wanted her to say something – anything to break the silence. He hoped that she wasn't going to break down again. If she wanted to leave, he would let her, but would he be able to let her go with the lie of the other women still between them? This was something that had been gnawing at him since he thought of the other girls last night, before Anna arrived at the party. When he was with her, he felt horrible for lying to her, but if she found out it would surely destroy her. Loki bit at his lip as he waited for Anna to speak.

_Anna POV_

Loki was handing her what she had been asking for since day one on a silver platter. She wanted to go home more than anything. She wanted to tell her friends and family that she was okay, she wanted to catch up on school, she wanted to have the freedom that she once had, but something in her, deep down, wanted to be with Loki, and that just wasn't possible, to have both worlds. She had to choose.

It was obvious that Loki was waiting for a response, as if she would know immediately what to choose.

"I can't just…make a decision like that, Loki. Maybe I could have a two or three weeks ago, but not now."

"So, you aren't yearning to return home?" He looked confused.

"I miss home more than anything, but…" Anna didn't know how to go on. She had dated on Earth before, men weren't like what she had experienced with Loki. She never yearned for a man like she yearned for him, wanting to be with him and touch him constantly. She had never experienced pleasure like she had with Loki, but she also had never experienced heartache like he gave her.

"…what if I had a trial period? I…I don't know, I don't want to leave you. I…I never thought I'd actually want to be here." Anna laughed incredulously, "I mean, you cancelled that whole competition for me, Loki. What happens to you if I leave?"

Loki looked her in the eyes for the first time since they started this conversation. He looked sad, or maybe guilty. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't say anything.

"What is it? I'm not like, damning you to being a perpetual bachelor by leaving, am I? Because that's kind of a deal breaker."

Loki put his hand up her thigh a bit, moving his hand in circles, "I haven't been totally truthful with you, and I think it's important that you know this before you decide to stay or not."

Anna had no idea what he could possibly be about to say.

"I separated you from the competition because you said that was the only way that you would give me a chance."

Anna pulled back from Loki, she was starting to understand what he was saying.

"I knew that you were special from our first meeting, but we would never of had this chance to know each other if you didn't believe that you were the only one I was courting."

Anna was in awe, "If I didn't…If I didn't believe…so…this whole time…"

Loki tried to backtrack, "The other mortals were gone immediately, and despite you being in the top 5, you're still my number one pick, I swear it."

Anna could barely hear him, her ears were ringing with fury, "I'm in the…there are 4 other girls still… have…" She was at a loss for words. As was Loki.

"Is that where you go?"

Loki couldn't look her in the eye, "When?"

"DON'T. DON'T PLAY DUMB. IS THAT WHERE YOU GO SOME NIGHTS? WHEN YOU LEFT ME? YOU WERE HAVING SEX WITH THEM? WEIGHING YOUR OPTIONS FOR MARRIAGE, TAKING THEM OUT…"

Loki didn't have to say anything to answer her, it was written all over his face. Anna felt disgusting.

"I want to go home." She said it so surely that she even believed it herself. Her rage erased any doubt in her mind. She felt absolutely cheated. This entire time he was leaving her to be with other women. She doubted that he cared for her at all. He continued to avoid eye contact, not saying a word.

"Did you hear me? I want to go home. I want to go home now!"

He stayed as still as a statue, "can you give it a day?" he asked, still not looking at her, "just to calm down and be sure?"

She was enraged, and didn't care what she had to do to get him in action, she didn't want to see him for a second longer. Her blood was boiling, her heart racing. She lifted her hand and smacked him hard across the face, "GET ME OUT OF HERE."

He put his hand up to where she smacked him, she prepared herself for his rage, but it never came. He sat there for a minute more before standing up, putting on a minimal amount of clothes, and walking out the door without another word.

She didn't dare cry when he was in her presence, but the moment he walked out the door she broke down sobbing. She felt completely betrayed.

She went to the bathroom and bathed as she continued to cry, she wasn't sure if his leaving was agreement to her leaving or not, but she wanted to be ready for whatever was going to happen to her throughout the day.

Deep in the back of a bottom drawer of her dresser were the clothes that she arrived in. She assumed that Loki would be back in time, and she wanted to prove to him that she was stronger than she had let on in the past week. She put on her leggings and her half of a shirt and waited in defiance, only eating enough to stop her stomach from moaning. It felt odd being back in normal clothes and not long, flowing dresses, but it also felt right. She put on a heavier than usual amount of makeup to hide her red, teary eyes. She looked almost back to normal, like she was going to a party on campus and waiting for her friends.

It wasn't until after lunch was delivered that someone other than Ragna came into the room. Two guards walked in, looking threatening, "Miss Anna, Loki has given us specific instructions to escort you back home."

Anna was angry, Loki didn't have the balls to do it himself. But she wasn't going to make a scene and she wasn't going to back out. She always told herself that if she was ever cheated on that she would leave immediately. She wasn't planning on backing out now.

Anna walked up to the men; one led the group, while the other stood to her right. She looked for Loki as they made their way to a vehicle, but he was nowhere to be seen.

They flew to a road that reminded Anna of the rainbow bridge in a game of Mario Kart. The man instructed her to hold on to his arm tight, and to close her eyes. Another man who seemed to be blind and the keeper of this bridge, allowed them through. They began to walk and suddenly Anna felt a lot of wind, along with the sensation of floating or flying. She lost her breath, as if she was skydiving, she didn't dare open her eyes.

The next the she knew, her and the guard were on solid ground, she could hear the sound of birds chirping, slowly, she opened her eyes and let go of him.

"I wish you the best of luck." Said a familiar voice.

Anna snapped her head to see the guard next to her, but Loki was already walking away.

Still out of breath from the travel, Anna just watched him, his black hair shined in the sunlight. With what seemed like no effort, he vanished, after about ten steps. Anna stared at the spot where Loki just was. He was so tricky, of course he would shape shift into a guard. It took several moments for her to turn away from the spot where he returned home from, but when she did, a flood of emotions rushed over her.

She was back on campus, behind her dorm building. Home had never felt so strange. Slowly, she began walking to the door, it was time to figure out what amount of damage her absence caused.

She made it to her dorm room, unnoticed. She didn't have the time, but form what it seemed like outside, it was probably early afternoon. In college that meant that if you weren't in class, you were asleep.

Anna wasn't best friends with her room mate, Elissa, they were matched together through the school and tolerated each other well. They didn't dislike each other, but there wasn't any type of insane bond that made them best friends. They would go out together, and gossip and teachers or other students, but Anna wouldn't typically go out with her. One thing Anna knew about Elissa for sure was that she was a party girl, and like most party girls she didn't dare wake up before noon. Anna took a deep breath, and knocked on her dorm room door.

There was no answer for a while, Anna knocked harder, knowing that she was waking Elissa up. Finally after several minutes, Elissa peeked through a crack in the door, her typically pin straight dark brown hair was a mess and she had last nights makeup caked onto her face. She squinted at Anna, trying to make out who was waking her up in the middle of her slumber.

"No way." Elissa breathed, her eyes opening wide.

She opened the door completely, gesturing for Anna to come inside. Anna wasn't sure of what to say. She thought about her story if she ever returned home during the time she was left alone on Asgard. Kidnapped was the obvious choice, she was at a party, a little too drunk, and was taken out the back door or something. She would say that she didn't remember anything. Post-traumatic stress or something. She would be questioned and interviewed for sure, but if she had no answers then it would all blow over eventually.

Elissa threw on some sweatpants and sat down on her messy bed. Anna took a seat on hers, it hadn't changed at all, except for everything was put in its' place and her bed was made, tucked into the corners and everything, like a hotel.

"Your parents did that, made the bed like that. They said that if the semester ended and you didn't return that they'd pack it all up, but for a while I had a single room." Elissa was incredibly calm for seeing her room mate who everyone assumed was gone, "Where were you? How are you in the same clothes that you left in but so clean? Did you just lose it and make an escape? That's what I assumed, you worked super hard, especially for a freshman."

Anna chuckled, "No I didn't run away. I…well I don't really remember much. But whoever took me treated me well. Kept me in a room, gave me books to read and food. Never harmed me. I don't remember getting there and I don't remember getting back. I feel fine."

"Yo! What if it was aliens?" Elissa shouted. If only Anna could tell her how spot on she was.

"It could have been! I have no idea how to…return? Is that the right word? How did you remember what I was wearing last?"

"I was asked like a hundred times. I was the one who forced you to come out that night, your parents, the school, the police, everyone came to me for answers and I was like, 'I don't know, I got to the party with her, we separated, and I never saw her again!' It was stressful, dude."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault! You were taken, I guess. We need to get to the cops. Am I the first one to see you?"

Anna told her that she woke up out back of the dorm and just came inside. Elissa threw her hair in a ponytail and wiped her eyes with a tissue, Anna had never seen her go out like this, and things must have been pretty serious for her when Anna disappeared.

They went to the campus police and Anna told her story again, making sure to stick to it to not cause any suspicion. They police called her parents, which was wild. Her mother talked to her on the phone, sobbing. And when they got to the station there was way more hugging and crying than Anna ever needed in her life.

Once the police had everything that they needed, Anna's parents suggested that they go back to her dorm and clear out everything and take her home. Anna was weary at first, part of her wanted to try to catch up on where she left off in the semester, but if she really wanted to play the abduction card, she had to act like someone who was abducted, which meant taking off the rest of the semester from school. That, and there was less than a month left, Anna hadn't realized that she hadn't seen a calendar since she left, it was already December.

She said goodbye to Elissa, it wasn't a teary farewell, as they agreed to dorm together next semester, and honestly Elissa was probably excited to have her own room, but it was sort of solemn.

After they packed everything into her father's crossover, they went out to dinner. Anna's mother decided on Olive Garden, which was Anna's favorite restaurant, but as they ordered, Anna just pushed her food around after only a few bites.

"Honey, are you alright? You've barely touched your meal; you know that you're safe now."

Anna knew that she was safe, she never felt unsafe. She just had a lot on her mind. She was worried that if Loki wanted to come back to see her, like in some romantic movie where the guy runs through the airport to speak to his love right as she's about to board the plane, he wouldn't know where to find her. Not that she would want to see him, but she did leave in a fit of rage, maybe he had more to say to her. The other reason why she had barely touched her meal was because after being spoiled by Asgardian palace food, this tasted like dog food. If she didn't get some of the sweet wine that she was used to with every meal, she feared that she would never be able to eat anything again.

Anna forced down a few more bites, to show that she was actually trying, "I'm fine guys, really. I just think I need some rest, it's been a long day, the police kept me forever."

Her parents finished their meals and insisted that Anna take hers to go. When they got home, Anna hugged and thanked her parents and quickly went downstairs where her room was. Despite having the whole floor to herself, she could hear her mother begin to sob again. She had spent so much time alone in Asgard, speaking to people all day really had been exhausting, especially because she had to keep remembering to tell her story straight. It had been suggested that Anna go to counseling, to try to bring back her lost memories to help them catch her abductor. Anna agreed that she may need counseling, but not for lost memories. After all Loki had done to her, physically and emotionally, as she laid down in the bedroom that she had lived in all her life, she couldn't have felt more homesick.

Anna tried to sleep, but every few hours she'd wake up from a nightmare. She kept dreaming about Loki being back in Asgard with his remaining women, not missing Anna one bit. She knew that he was probably having sex with one of them right now. Not even missing Anna a little bit. She was nothing to him, and as much as she tried to play off the same feelings towards him, she was really starting to love him. It was such a short amount of time, but she believed that he had really opened up to her. She felt like an idiot. Everything about her time there was a lie. Loki was a manipulative monster, but if Anna really believed that, then why wouldn't he stop haunting her dreams?

_Loki POV_

Loki laid on his bed with his hands behind his head. There were plenty of things he could be doing to get Anna off of his mind, but all of them were the girls downstairs and he absolutely was not in the mood for that. He knew that he shouldn't have escorted Anna home, even if he was disguised. He was the best at shifting, no one ever could tell when Loki wasn't really Loki. The only exception was when he was extremely emotional. The key to shape shifting was to stay completely emotionally balanced, which was impossible as he walked away from Anna for the last time. He knew that would happen, and he knew that she saw him. She called after him as he transported back to Asgard, and it took everything in him not to turn back around.

He knew that he had messed up, but in his defense, how would he have known on day 3 of knowing Anna that she would be so amazing? Even just a few days ago he didn't know that, he was about to send her home because she couldn't stop crying. She only switched back a day ago. Loki thought about the night before, him and Anna in the gardens. It was the old Anna, the one that wasn't afraid of Loki. The only reason why he still offered to let her go home after that amazing night was because he wasn't sure if the Anna that he loved was temporary. Loved. He thought about the word often. The week that he was away from Anna, he was gone because he hurt her, little did he know that he was hurting her even more by abandoning her. He just knew that the way he typically treated women wouldn't go over well with Anna. He even knew that before she left two foot-shaped bruises on his abdomen.

He couldn't defiantly say that he loved Anna, but what he could say was that what he felt for her he had never felt before for any women, including the ones that he had waiting for him downstairs. And now Anna was gone, back on Earth. Was she thinking about him? Loki thought about going to see her, maybe just a few visits to check up on her, but he didn't think that the urge to do so would come the first night he was without her. He decided against it, he wasn't desperate. He was Loki Laufeyson, he didn't crawl back to women, it was quite the opposite.

He stood up to go see one of the girls left in the competition, he wanted to feel strong again. Anna left him vulnerable and…well, and sad. A feeling that he thought he had abolished. But he knees wobbled as he tried to go towards the door, he fell back onto the bed and just looked up at the ceiling. He rolled over onto what was just the night before, Anna's side of the bed. He could still smell her there. Loki forced himself to sleep before he did something he would soon regret.

The next day Loki woke up, but didn't have the strength to get out of bed, so he didn't. The next day was the same. Ragna delivered him food to his bedside, looking apathetic every time she did. He asked her about her time with Anna, what she was like when he didn't see her for an entire week.

Ragna tightened her lips and looked Loki right in the eyes, "Well dearie, she acted a lot like this."

That statement did nothing to improve Loki's mood. He stayed like that for 3 more days, getting up to shower, or read, but he knew that if he mustered up the strength to actually get up, he would only end up on Earth, watching over Anna. That wouldn't be very healthy for him either.

Ragna began to deliver letters to him from the girls. He was assured that they were full of words of longing for him, he was leaving them like he had left Anna, the only difference being that they had each other to stay sane. Loki didn't even read them. Anna hadn't even been gone for a week and he was already contemplating scrapping the whole thing and staying the rest of his life alone in his room. He was terribly depressed, and had no idea how to fix it.

_Anna POV_

It had been a weird week for Anna. She was doing much better than she had expected to be doing. As long as she kept reminding herself that there was no point in longing for someone who didn't care about her, she was able to begin living somewhat of a normal life. She had her day free, since she was taking the rest of the semester off and she didn't have a job or anything, and with her parents just happy to see her alive, it had been a really great week. Her dad wouldn't let her drive anywhere alone, but he dropped her off at the mall and gave her his credit card telling to, "Have fun, but not too much fun." So Anna bought a few books and new outfits, and she was feeling pretty great about herself. She sat at the fountain in the middle of the mall, looking through one of her new novels and snacking on a pretzel. She knew that as long as she kept her mind busy, she wouldn't have time to be depressed. She even made plans to see some of her old friends from high school during the weekend.

Anna did realize that she had been checking her phone more often than usual, as if Loki would text her or something ridiculous like that. She also had to do a double take every time a tall man with black hair crossed paths with her. But considering how she was when she was without Loki for a week on Asgard, Anna was handling this wonderfully.

The next night Anna put on one of her new outfits and examined herself in the mirror. It was out of character for her to be wearing anything even remotely revealing, but she really liked the way she looked. Weeks of wearing long robes, took a toll on her. She donned a pair of high-waisted shorts with stockings underneath to keep her legs warm. She also had a bustier top, that was more like a bra, and a long frayed cardigan as a jacket. She had much more makeup than she usually wore, dark eyes and dark lipstick. She looked tough, like she felt. Her hair on the other hand didn't want to be tough, it wanted to be unruly and wild, so she stuck a beanie on to keep it sane. These were friends that hadn't seen her in a while, so she decided that with this new look she could create a new Anna, just like she felt.

She got a text that they were outside at about 8pm, she slipped on a pair of combat boots that were also new, and ran out the door before her parents could see her.

She knew of 3 people that were going out tonight, one of her closest friends from high school, Christy, they drifted a bit after their summer before college. Christy went to school 8 hours away while Anna stayed closer to home. They remained Facebook friends, but didn't stay close. With her was her boyfriend Jerid, they had been together since their freshman year of high school. Anna wouldn't consider him a best friend, but he was a constant in Christy's life making him at least a friend. They went off to college together, so he too had drifted. The last of the group was Ryan. He was taking a gap year and stayed in town after high school, Anna hung out with him on her weekends home (which hadn't been many), and they had been friends since freshman year of high school. She was sure they would all have a million questions about her disappearance, but what she was really looking forward to was going to a good old fashioned house part and letting herself free from any worries for the first time since she came back from Asgard. When she ran up to Jerid's car to slide into the back seat, she noticed an extra body. A tall boy with a black quaff and thick black rimmed glasses was scooting over for her. Anna couldn't even see his face, but she could tell two things. First, she had never met this boy in her life and second, he was very attractive.

Anna squeezed in and slammed the door behind her, it was a tight fit.

"Hey guys!" Anna said enthusiastically, they all responded hello.

"Anna, this is Jake, he's a friend of our from school, he was about to be snowed in with the rest of our school this weekend, we whisked him away right before the storm hit." Christy explained.

"And now I'm trapped here until the roads clear up there and we can get back." Jake said sarcastically.

"Honestly, I would have stayed, this town is dead." Anna said, trying to break the ice with Jake.

Jake laughed, "Sorry, guys, I'm going to have to spread out my arms if I want to be able to feel them." He put his arm around Anna, he was very long, his knees were nearly touching his chest as he sat in the between her and Ryan.

"The towns not dead tonight, girl, we're going to go hard! This is a college party."

"Oh, a college party at the college that I go to where I got abducted from the last time I was at a party, real smooth, guys." Anna said, jokingly.

Anna saw Christy's eyes grow wide in the rearview mirror, "Oh god, we're idiots, we don't have to go, Anna! Wow, I can't believe we didn't think of that."

"No! No!" Anna insisted, "I'm joking! I'm honestly not freaked out at all by any of this, I'm probably the calmest person out of everyone I've talked to, I'm excited for tonight, we have to go."

Christy released a deep breath, "Okay. Okay as long as you're really okay." The car grew silent for a moment. Anna could feel Jake staring at her, she locked eyes with him, he was trying to read her expression.

Christy broke the silence, "Do you…want to talk about it? We don't have to…if you don't want."

Anna could tell that everyone was curious; she didn't think they'd try to be so respectful.

She told them the exact story she told the police, that she was definitely abducted but treated well and that she remembers nothing about the people that did it to her. During her story, Jake started to rub her left shoulder, not in a coming on to her kind of way, but in a sympathetic way. Anna almost felt sorry for lying to them, but she couldn't change her story now.

They all seemed really understanding, but it kind of brought the mood down.

"Okay! Now that we have that out of the way, can we get drunk?" Anna said, trying to break the awkwardness.

"Yes! Finally!" Ryan exclaimed, as he pulled a large water bottle of blue liquid out from by his feet.

"Dude, we're not drinking Windex." Jake said with a raised eyebrow.

"It's just rum mixed with Gatorade, everyone go! Pre-game! Except Jerid! Eyes on the road, my friend.

Anna felt like she was back in high school, drinking cheap alcohol with her friends, getting ready to go to a lame party, and just laughing at how dumb they all were. As they drove to the school, which was about 20 minutes away without traffic, Anna became more and more lightheaded. As they parked, she was already stumbling. She held on to Jake as they walked from the car to the party, which was being held in a house right off campus. She probably could have made it on her own, but she wasn't going to give up a chance to hold on to this cute mysterious new boy. This didn't get past Christy, who kept side-eyeing the pair as they made their way to the house.

The party was bigger than any one that Anna had ever been to. It was set up by the school's biggest Frat and biggest Sorority, so everyone who got wind of it was there. It was wall to wall people. The beer was flowing and the music was deafening. Everyone kind of split as they got in. Christy and Jerid went to go make up for lost time as Jerid was still sober, Ryan went to go find his friends that told him about this party, apparently he worked with one of the Frat guys, and Jake grabbed on to Anna's hand and pulled her toward the kegs. Anna wasn't sure how she was feeling about Jake just yet, but he was obviously feeling her. They found a corner to drink in, but they quickly realized that they didn't have much to talk about. Anna was used to this, if a guy was cute, he probably wasn't much of a conversationalist, why would you have to be when people automatically like you for your looks? That, and all he really knew about her was that she was just returned from being kidnapped, it was hard to get past that sort of thing to discuss weather or sports.

She downed the last of her beer, and took his hand, he followed her out into the thick of it. There were bodies everywhere, all moving together in rhythm to the beat. Anna was well past tipsy, which gave her the confidence to dance like she never had before with anyone. She grinded and put her hands all over Jake, who had no complaints as she did so. They had gone through at least 4 songs dancing on top of each other when he pulled her body, glistening with sweat, incredibly close to his. She put her hands behind his neck, as their noses nearly touched, and their bodies swayed to the beat of the house music.

She didn't wait for him to make the move, she kissed him hard, still moving to the music. This is exactly what she needed, she thought, to really let loose. They danced for a bit longer, and then decided to move outside of the party, where the air was chilly. Jake pushed Anna to the side of the house, their hot bodies actually steaming in the freezing air. She put one of legs around his waist, and he held on to it as they had a passionate make out session. While this should have made her forget her troubles, all she could think about was Loki, and how similar this was to nights with him. She yearned for his touch terribly.

"D'ya think Jerid left the car unlocked?" She said sensually as she nibbled on his ear.

He didn't respond, he just let her leg down and pulled her to the car, she was glad that Jake wasn't the type of guy who was looking for a relationship, because honestly, Anna didn't have the time. She just wanted to feel as good as she felt during those nights with Loki on Asgard.

They got to the car to find it unlocked, Anna opened the door and pushed Jake in. She climbed on top of him, trying to find a comfortable position in Jerid's tiny back seat. Jake ended up sitting like you normally would, with Anna straddled on top of him. She grabbed his face and continued to kiss him, as she pulled off his clothes. Jake was built, not like Loki, who was muscular but thin. No, Jake obviously spent a lot of time in the gym, to the point where Anna felt uncomfortable with her curves. But there was no time for insecurity now. Anna had several layers to peel off before she was naked on top of him, and getting his jeans off of his incredibly long legs was quite a chore, but they managed it. Anna and Jake crashed together in an explosion of pleasure. The time that it took from the party to being undressed in the car was more buildup than Anna had ever experienced. Just like in the party, Anna grinded up and down on him, moaning in pleasure, the car got very steamy very fast. She felt wonderful, but something in the back of her head kept telling her that this wasn't Loki. It also wasn't her. She would never have sex with a guy the day she met them. Hell, she didn't even know Jake's last time. But she was here, and she was doing it. Post-Loki Anna was a whole new person. Anna came crashing down on Jake one final time, he finished with a groan of pleasure, her not so much. She took herself out of the zone with thoughts of Loki. They kissed for a while more, before awkwardly fumbling over one another to get re-dressed.

They couldn't really hide how disheveled they were, which was obvious when they got back to the house to find their friends shivering on the porch.

"Here they emerge! Out of the woods. Check your phone, much? You both have like 30 missed calls." Christy was obviously irritated.

"C'mon, they're here now, let's just head out." Said Jerid, trying to calm his girlfriend now.

Christy eyed them up and down. It could have been a mix of things, like the fact that Anna abandoned attempting to get her stockings back on, so her legs shone bare as she shivered in the moonlight, or maybe that Jakes sleeves were no longer rolled up but laying on his arms in a wrinkled mess much like the rest of his shirt. But Christy got the message, and let it go.

"Okay, how about we find an open pizza place? This party is way too crowded."

Everyone nodded and went back to the car. Jake and Anna felt like they were being coy, the group obviously knew that something went on, but they were pretty much in the clear as far as the details. That was, of course, until they reached the car, which was still hot, foggy, and had a scent of sex and sweat.

"REALLY?" Jerid shouted, "You couldn't have gone into the woods?"

Jake laughed, "It's cold out!"

"Let's just head out." Christy said in a mocking voice, making fun of her boyfriend."

Jerid huffed and got into the car with everyone else. Anna worried that it would be awkward with Jake, but it was quite the opposite. After they all had a bite to eat, Jake whispered in Anna's ear as they pulled onto her street, "You know, I'll be stuck here for at least a few more days, so make sure to hit me up." Anna smiled coyly. She wasn't ready to give up on this kid just yet. She could use a bit more fun in her life.

As they pulled up to Anna's house she thanked everyone and said her goodbyes. Despite only really getting to talk to her friends in the car and during dinner, she had a really good time catching up, and an even better time "meeting" Jake. That night, she slept almost completely through the night, a first since her return. Like she thought earlier, she was doing wonderfully.

_Loki POV_

"Loki I am absolutely done with this. You need to get out of bed." Frigga marched across Loki's rooms opening all of the shades he had put up. Bright sunlight seared his eyes.

"Mother! No!" Loki protested.

"What good are you in bed all of the time? I'm not saying you have to interact with those girls, even though they pathetically whine for you constantly, and I'm not saying that you have to go to Earth to retrieve Anna, although I know in my heart that's what's best for you, but you have to get out of bed. You have to do _something_.

Loki knew that his mother had his best interest in mind, but he didn't want to see the other girls and he refused to give in and crawl to Anna on his knees, so what could he do? His one job at the moment was to find a wife, and he wasn't interested.

"What shall I do? Read a book? Ride a horse? You know as well as I do, I have no purpose here. I need more time to think." Loki drew the blinds and went back to his bed.

His mother sat down beside him, "If you're not interested in any of the girls downstairs, why don't you just let them go? Why hold on to them?"

Loki sighed and pulled a pillow to his face, "If I let them go, there's no one left."

His mother wasn't buying it, "How long do you plan on letting Anna run around before you return to woo her, hm?"

Loki looked up to the ceiling, exasperated, "She left on her own accord, she doesn't want to see me."

"Oh please Loki, I heard how your disappearing act ruined her, I heard her cries all day. She got angry with you because you lied, which was stupid, and you're too proud to apologize."

"I'm not too proud, I don't believe in useless apologies. It's a waste of my breath."

Frigga smacked Loki with a pillow and pulled him by the arm out if his bed, he stumbled to the floor, "Go eat. Go eat and get showered. I will see to it that you're off to Earth to see her. When you do you will apologize. I'll send the other girls home."

"This isn't your decision-"

Frigga hit him again with the pillow, "It's the conclusion that you would come to, I'm just speeding up the process. No son of mine will lay in bed all day, wallowing in self pity, I forbid it."

Loki loved his mother, and respected her too much to point out that he wasn't actually her son. He also knew that she was right, so he begrudgingly went to the table and began to eat his lunch. It may have only been a week, but Loki understood why Anna was miserable when he returned to her, he just hoped she wouldn't react to him the same way that he reacted to her. He wanted her back desperately.

_Anna POV_

Anna woke up the next day in a haze, she looked at her phone to see that it was well past noon, and she had several texts. One of them from a strange number,

"Hey, it's Jake. Let's go to a real party tonight."

Anna smirked, the text was nearly two hours old, so she wasted to time responding, "How were you a functioning human before noon? Where?"

She started to get undressed to shower, not expecting a text back too soon, Jake was the cool type, the kind of guy that counted Mississippi's before even opening a text, but to her surprise her phone dinged almost immediately, "It's a surprise, an underground thing."

This was not Anna's scene at all, but she remembered that she wanted to be a new Anna, so she took a deep breath and replied, "Like a rave? I'm in, what time?"

Again, a response came in astonishingly fast, "I'll be at your place at 10."

Anna wanted to play it cool, so she didn't answer, but she had many questions. First, if Jake came here with Christy and Jerid, how was he going to pick her up? And wasn't ten kind of late, or was Anna just lame? And what did people wear to raves anyways? No clothes? Anna didn't have any clothes that were no clothes. She may have had nearly 8 hours to get ready, but she was going to need it.

10 PM rolled around fast, Anna was looking over her style choices as she heard her phone buzz, "Outside" the text from Jake read.

She glanced over herself one last time before running to the door, she had on a short, black, leather skater skirt, and another bustier top. She gave herself a pat on the back for buying two of them, her chest looked great and she nearly passed on it since it was a metallic gold, which reminded her of Loki and the palace, not the mention that she never had a reason to wear something like that before. Her hair was tamed by the straightener for once, and her red lips made her look fierce. She was definitely enjoying the new Anna look.

She managed to avoid her parents once again, another stroke of luck since she was looking even sexier than yesterday. She opened the door with half of her heavy black cardigan on, and nearly ran Jake over.

"Whoa!" She said, maybe a bit too loud, "Sorry, I didn't expect you to be right there."

"Hurry", he said grabbing her hand, "We're going to miss the bus."

Of course, the bus, that explained it. Anna's legs were being burned by the cold air, raves were typically very warm, and she didn't expect to be freezing at any time during the night. Luckily, the bus stop was just around the corner, but the short walk left Anna feeling frozen.

The bus arrived less than a minute after they reached the stop, and Anna climbed in as fast as she could. Jake paid the driver and they took a seat, "Please tell me that our stop is an extremely short walk to the party, I don't want to have to amputate my legs."

Jake laughed, "I think you'll be alright."

About 20 minutes later they pulled up to a dirty looking stop downtown. The building were tall and all brick and there was a light fog, it was something out of a scary movie. Anna doubted her decision making skills when agreeing to go somewhere with a boy she only met the night before, he could be a psycho. As she questioned herself, she got off of the bus and followed Jake to an alley. This is it, she thought. Either he kills me or something really cool happens. It was obviously the latter when Jake knocked on a door and a man opened it, revealing a set of stairs that led to a dark room with dozens of flashing colored lights.

He's not a killer, Anna thought to herself; nailed those judgment of character skills.

Jake held on to Anna's hand tight, as they walked into the room, where the temperature raised by at least 50 degrees. Anna immediately stripped off her cardigan and wrapped around her cross-body bag. Jake seemed to have an agenda, because they hadn't even been in the building for 3 minutes when he pulled out two small white pills, putting one in his mouth and offering the other to Anna. She looked at it apprehensively, she knew it was ecstasy, she'd seen it before, but she'd never tried it. She never tried any drug, actually. She shook her head, but that was old Anna, new Anna likes to party, and this will definitely make her party. She opened her mouth and Jake placed the pill on her tongue. She swallowed, hard, and tried to relax.

It wasn't long until she started feeling different. She was dancing with Jake as she did the other night, she noticed that he was extra sweaty, but in his defense, it was extra hot in the room. She felt it in her legs first, they were tingly, like there were butterflies all over them. The feeling began to rise up in her, and before she knew it she felt like she was floating. She felt incredibly happy, happier than she ever had, and she couldn't stop touching Jake, it was the best feeling she had ever felt just to touch him. They danced and kissed and had their hands all over each other. Jake put his hand up her skirt, and Anna believed that she had never been in such a state of bliss as she was in that moment. She had no perception of how much time passed, but at some point she realized that she was sweatier than she'd ever been in her life, like, actually dripping. For some reason, this made her emotional, and with tears in her eyes, she told pulled Jake in close, "I'm sweating, I don't feel happy anymore, what do I do?"

Jake smiled and brought her through the crowd to a wall, "Wait here, I'll get us water."

Anna waited, just like he said. She kept checking her phone for the time, every minute felt like an hour, and she was starting to panic. The tears in her eyes began to fall, and she started breathing heavily.

"It hasn't been more than 10 minutes, Anna, calm down. You're okay." She said to herself, but she had her hands clenched into sweaty fists, and she couldn't stop herself from panicking.

The room felt smaller and smaller, there were so many people and lights. Anna knew that she should stay put, but something in her brain told her that she had to get out, had to run. So she did, she turned towards the stairs that led outside. She was in full panic mode, she didn't even care that she didn't know how to get home. She pushed past the crowds of people everywhere, and rocketed to the door, only to bump into the security guard who waited there.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, as she went to take another hurried step, but the man grabbed her arm, to stop her from getting out. She wasn't getting the same happy feeling from getting touched, like she did with Jake, but for a moment, she was mesmerized by the hand on her arm, zoning out staring at it. Her vision was pulsating, and when she pulled back to make the man let go and he didn't, she nearly attacked him.

"LET ME-" she stopped immediately when she looked into the man's eyes, "…Loki?"

He had a hood on, but Anna snapped right out of her trance when she realized, this man was much taller and thinner than the man who opened the door for her and Jake. This wasn't a security guard; this was Loki, on Earth, in human clothes, at the party she was at with Jake.

Anna was sure it was the drugs, but she began to sob. All of the fear she felt moments ago evaporated. She fell into Loki's arms, who led her outside.

_Loki POV_

He didn't say anything, he just shushed her, when they got out of the alley, she spoke first, "This. Isn't. Me. It's. Pills." She couldn't catch her breath.

Loki wasn't sure what type of pills she was referring to, if she was speaking of some kind of medication, Loki was sure that it was harming her in some way. He tracked her down earlier when she was still in her home, he had to admit that she looked ravishing. She had a glow that Loki had never seen on her before. She as looking even better than she did the day that he met her, it hurt him to see the affects of her being back home. When he saw her meet that boy and leave with him alone, it took all of Loki's strength not to strike him down right there on her doorstep, but he stopped himself. Instead, he followed them silently in his mortal uniform, and she didn't notice a thing. He watched her as she put what must have been this "pill" in her mouth, and nearly intervened several times. He watched that boy touch her, kiss her, please her. It ached Loki to even think about it. He watched her get sweatier and more panicked. He watched that boy leave her on her own as she stood against that wall crying, her straight crimson hair beginning to curl as it wrapped around her warm body. It was at that point that he decided to reveal himself to her, that was until she really panicked and ran to the door. Loki beat her there, simply because he was taller than most of the crowd and was closer to the stairs. He watched as Anna pushed through the crowds, and right before she got out the door, he grabbed her. He knew that he had to take her home, her home, but he wasn't prepared to say goodbye just yet, he needed to see to it that she would be okay.

"Shh," he cooed, as he held her tight against him, she was shivering like mad, "I'll take you home. You'll be okay."

Her eyes grew wide and she turned to him, pulling away slightly, "No! I can't go back to Asgard!"

Loki didn't even try to hide the hurt in his eyes when she said that, but still, he knew that he wanted to take care of her, "_Your_ home dear. I'm taking you to your home."

She was still crying hard and trying to catch her breath, but she seemed relieved to hear that Loki wasn't taking her away again.

He used magic to get her back to her house and into her room, he knew that she lived with her parents, and the transportation that they took to the party was miserable.

He sat her down on the bed and she reached out for a water bottle on her desk, he handed it to her and she drank down the entire thing in nearly one gulp.

He rubbed her back as she began to calm down, it seemed that the pills were wearing off, thank goodness.

Loki didn't know what to do, he didn't expect the night to end up like this, him in mortal clothes in Anna's room as she had a panic attack. He wasn't sure what she wanted him to do, he wanted to stay, but she probably wanted him to leave. She was looking up at him, she was sitting in a ball on her bed, just watching him, "Why are you here?" She asked, not with malice, but more out of curiosity.

He looked at her apologetically, "I had to come see you, to make sure you're okay…" Neither one of them said anything, "…and you weren't, but you are, so I'll go…"

"NO!" She shouted, "I mean, can you just…stay the night at least? I still feel…weird."

Loki wasn't sure why Anna wanted him to stay after all he had done to her, but he wasn't going to question it. She took off her skirt and top and slipped on an oversized shirt that was left on the bed. Loki did the same with his clothes, leaving only his underwear.

"Is this…okay?" He asked as he pulled the covers over himself. She didn't respond, but she nuzzled herself into his chest. He responded by putting his arms around her. She clapped her hands twice and the lights went out. It was an odd experience, Loki had never slept a night on Earth, there were so many noises; Vehicles on the road, in the air, animals of all kinds chirping and barking. And her room, it smelled just like her, Being in her bed was like being wrapped up in Anna's scent. That night was the first night that Loki slept comfortably since Anna left, he prayed that in the morning she would feel the same as she did that night, because he wasn't prepared to let her go again.

_Anna POV_

Anna was coming down from the ecstasy, she was back to the butterfly sensation everywhere, and it was lovely again. Something in her wanted to jump Loki's bones to feel that ultimate sensation again, but she decided not to because him holding her felt too great to forfeit. She heard her phone buzzing lightly in her bag, it was probably Jake, but for some reason she didn't want to answer, maybe she was putting on a front for herself, because right now all she wanted was Loki. She pushed the idea of him being with another woman to the back of her mind, after all, she was just with another man the night before. She knew that in the morning they would have to have a serious talk, but she wasn't going to deny that she wanted him there with her. When she first cried for him to stay, she worried that she was acting too much like a baby, but she was glad that she did what she did, because as she laid in Loki's arms, she felt as if she was living in a dream. She didn't even know that she wanted him, but the butterflies that she felt were telling her that this wasn't just what she wanted; it was what she _needed_. She floated off to sleep in total bliss, hoping that they'd be able to work out their differences in the morning, when the light of day would shine on both of their mistakes.

Anna woke up feeling the most refreshed she had in some time. She had a tinge of worry that Loki would leave during the night, but she opened her eyes to meet his chest, the exact same way she fell asleep. She didn't want to wake him, so she lay there in his warmth until he stirred a little while later. In that time, she thought about what she would say to him. She was angry with him for lying to her, upset with him for letting her go, but also happy to be with him again. She seemed to be fine when he was gone, but as soon as he was back all of the feelings that she had developed towards him rushed back to her. She hoped that she wouldn't have to make any rash decisions, because she wasn't ready to commit to being with him officially, especially if that meant leaving home. He needed to show her that he wanted to commit to her, that is, if he did want that. She wasn't sure what his intentions were, coming to Earth and following her, but she hoped it was because he was missing her…and that he was done with the other girls. Like she said from the start, she wanted to be the only one.

Loki woke, and pulled Anna in tight. They laid there for a bit, just breathing in each other, "I have a surprise for you." Anna said.

Loki kissed the top of her head, "What is that, love?"

Anna giggled, "We don't get breakfast served to us here, we have to get it ourselves."

Loki laughed too as they rolled out of bed. Anna's parents were dedicated churchgoers, and lucky for Anna it was prime church time, they would be gone for a few hours or so, giving her plenty of time to figure out what to do with Loki.

First, she made breakfast, she couldn't match the elegance of Asgardian food, but she did her best, eggs, toast, and bacon seemed reasonable. She wasn't sure what Loki would drink, she made coffee for herself and gave him orange juice.

"What is that brown liquid you have there?" Loki asked as they sat down at the breakfast nook.

"It's called coffee, would you like to try?"

He nodded and she passed him a cup, as he sipped his eyes grew wide, "This is wonderful!"

Anna laughed and got herself another cup as Loki drank hers, it was fun to be the one with all of the knowledge for once.

"So…" Anna said as they finished their breakfasts, you followed me last night."

Loki looked guilty, "I was going to give it more time…"

"But you always planned to come back?"

"Well…I didn't at first, you made yourself clear on wanted to leave me, but…well…I spent the entirety of the past week miserable in bed, so my mother, you know my mother, insisted that I come here and find you."

Anna was shocked and pleasantly surprised, Loki spent a week being miserable without her, "Why didn't you turn to your mistresses for comfort…or did you?" Anna took Loki's moment of weakness and went for the big question.

"The other girls? My mother sent them home. They wrote me letters and I didn't even read them, I couldn't even read them."

Anna smirked, so Loki was just like she was when he abandoned her, she wasn't going to let him get away with this easily, "Well, Loki, I'm not interested in a man who weeps, come back to me when you're the old Loki."

Loki immediately got defensive, "Well I know tha- wait, a minute." Loki caught on, "okay, I see the game you're playing, mortal. I can admit to my faults. I may have acted harshly in the past, but I...well, I get it now."

Anna was thoughtful for a minute, for once Loki wasn't playful, he was serious, which was a good thing, "I don't want to cry over you anymore, Loki. I don't want to worry if you're with other women or that you could be done with me any day…"

"I almost blew up that party last night, seeing you with that…boy…" Loki's hands were balled into tight fists.

"I can't commit to leaving everything behind, Loki. You lied to me, how can be sure that you're not doing it again right now." Anna whispered.

Loki reached across the table and took her hands in his, "I want to prove it to you, no woman has ever made me so upset in my life, it has to mean something. There's something between us."

Then, a light bulb went off in Anna's head, "What are your plans for the next few weeks."

Loki shrugged.

"I've spent a few weeks in your world, stay in mine for a while. Prove to me how loyal you are and I will do the same for you."

Loki scoffed, "Live here? On earth? Wearing mortal clothes, eating mortal foods, what will I do?"

Anna got up and reached to the kitchen counter where one of her mother's books laid, she picked it up and plopped down on Loki's lap, "you can read a book." She said in a deep tone as she leaned into Loki's ear.

He locked eyes with her, she had a mischievous grin on.

"So this is how you want it to be? I have to tell you, pet," he pulled in her by the waist so that she was sitting on his lap, "I'm not very good at following directions."

Anna wasn't going to let him have his way just yet, she hopped out of his lap and walked across the room, "too bad! You can refer to _me_ as master – no! – _mistress." _Anna smiled.

Loki was chuckling as he walked up to Anna, "Now, now, baby steps, love. I can't be chained to this Earth _and_ be in literal chains."

Anna's yes lit up, she threw her arms around Loki's next, "did you just say that you were staying."

Loki closed his eyes and rolled his head back, "I believe I did."

Anna kissed him, instinctively. She was going to have Loki and her home, even if it was temporary. This was just the thing she needed, a little time to test him, without any commitment. Exactly like he had.

He pulled her in close, and started kissing her harder, he moved his mouth down to her neck and tried to lift her up, but she resisted.

When he tried again, he realized what she was doing, "What's wrong love?" He asked breathlessly, talking into her neck.

"I don't want to start this again on a lie." It killed her to slow him down, she wanted him terribly.

Loki pulled back a bit, and looked past her, "Did you have sex with that moron you were with at the club."

Anna didn't answer, she was glad that he said it so she didn't have to.

"You didn't waste any time, did you?" Loki asked, his skin turning cold. Anna knew what was happening.

"Loki, I needed to do something to keep my mind off of you, I was looking for someone to take your place-"

She wasn't helping, he was quickly changing color to an intense shade of blue. She started rubbing his arms, like she would to someone who was becoming hypothermic, as if it would help.

"Loki Loki Loki, please. I'm sorry, I thought of you with all of those other women and something just came over me, I became a different person, you saw me last night, that wasn't me."

"I'm not angry at you." Loki said through gritted teeth, "I'm just angry."

Anna started to kiss him, just pecking him all over. He was blue and red-eyed, part of her was terrified, but she did everything she could not to show it. This wasn't like last time, yes he was angry and blue, but he had no intentions of hurting her, she could tell.

"We said we didn't want to feel hurt by one another anymore, I didn't mean to, I just had to."

He began to relax. As he slowly returned back to a normal state, Anna breathed a sigh of relief.

"It was one time, and I'm so so so sorry." She said gently.

Loki nodded, looking defeated.

Anna put one of her hands to his chest while the other tugged at the elastic on his boxer-briefs, "Why don't we take a long, hot bath and relax, hmm?"

Loki took a deep breath, "There's only one thing that will get me to relax now, pet." He said in his deep voice.

He lifted Anna up and threw her over his shoulder unexpectedly, causing her to yelp. He marched with a great force to Anna's bedroom in the basement, and threw her down on her bed. With a wave of his arm he closed the door behind him, and pounced on Anna.

He started between her legs, licking at her with her panties still on, she was sure that she had wet through them by now, she had been turned on since they started talking over breakfast. As he made his way up her body with his tongue, he pushed her shirt up and then over her head. When he reached her face he looked into her eyes for a moment, to make sure that he was okay. She responded by pulling him in for an intense kiss. They stayed that way, kissing in their underwear for quite some time. Anna kept pushed her hips into him, but he didn't go any further. Eventually, she was desperate for him, so she rolled on top of him, so he was in a sitting position, and as she climbed on top of him she pulled down her panties and reached down for his girth. She was reminded for a moment of her night with Jake, but shook the thought out of her head. That was just sex, it was a drunken night. This was so much more.

As she was about to put him in her, he grabbed her by the shoulders, preventing her from bringing herself down on him, as if he could tell that her thoughts weren't completely on him. He stood up, pushing her off the bed, and against her bedroom wall. She wasn't sure what he wanted to do with her, but she was desperate for it.

"Loki" she moaned, "please."

Loki smiled, "please. What." He was playing with her now, she couldn't take it.

She threw her hands around his neck and tried to pull his body to hers. But he was too strong. She moaned, exasperated.

Loki put his hands on her waist and pulled her off of the wall, throwing her back onto the bed. Slowly, once again, he crawled on top of her. "What do you want, love?" He asked, breathing into her mouth, "Is it this?"

He placed his hand on her clit, and massaged slowly. Anna arched her back, begging for more.

"Yes yes yes." Anna repeated.

"How about this?" Loki took himself in his hands and rubbed his shaft up and down Anna's opening, teasing her, but never entering her.

"JUST DO IT!" Anna shouted, grabbing his shaft and forcing half of it in her. His mouth opened in shock from the pleasure, as did hers. She wrapped her legs around his waist, so he couldn't tease her again. She pulled him in deeper with her legs, and started grinding on him. He put one hand on her chest and pushed her back down so that he could thrust into her. Finally, after more than enough torture, Anna was feeling the sweet release of pleasure. She moaned and touched her breasts as Loki thrust deeper into her. While Anna despised being teased for so long, it made the pleasure more intense. She came over and over again, as Loki held on and continued to push into her. He was visibly exhausted, so Anna took the initiative to roll on top of him once again, pushing him down when he tried to stop her. She didn't have to ride him long before he came to a climax. Mouth open, head back, Loki came into her, leaving both of them feeling the sweet relief that they craved oh so desperately.

Anna crashed onto Loki, falling directly into his arms. Rather than lay there in silence, Anna started to kiss him gently.

"Feeling better, my love?" Anna asked.

Loki opened one eye and looked down at her, "my love?" he asked suspiciously.

She slapped him on the chest, "Shut up, I'm happy."

Loki smiled and closed his eyes again, "I'm happy too."

Anna woke up to the sound of her door being opened, it was always a little creaky, and she was on edge since she didn't mean to fall asleep. She pulled her blanket up from her waist over her chest, but there was no hiding the incredibly tall, pale man next to her. She didn't see the person at the door, but they obviously peeked in because she heard a gasp and the door slammed shut. It had to be her mother. Anna was dreading this discussion, especially because she was going to be asking to have Loki stay for an unknown amount of time.

Loki was still fast asleep, he must have been exhausted. Anna climbed out from the bed, and put on some sweatpants and a tee shirt. This was not a conversation she was looking forward to.

Anna hadn't thought much about her reasoning for needing Loki to stay with her, so she was going to have to wing it. She did know that she would need to incorporate her abduction if she wanted her parents to be okay with it. She walked down the stairs slowly, she didn't want to startle her parents, "…Mom?" she called out apprehensively.

"In the kitchen!" She shouted back, sounding cheerful.

Anna turned into the kitchen to see her father sitting at the island in the middle of the room with her mother at the counter preparing dinner.

Anna took a deep breath and began her plead, "Okay, I know you guys don't know much about my life at school, but while I was there, before I was taken, I kind of got a boyfriend and he's really great, but we didn't have time to catch up after I came back because I got back and came here so he's downstairs and is totally upset about everything that happened to me and since I'm not back at school I was wondering if he could stay here for a little while. I don't want to ask him to go back to his dorm just yet, he's really concerned for me…" Anna knew it wasn't the best speech she'd ever given, but she was pretty proud of it considering that she came up with it on the fly.

Her mother reacted almost immediately, "Oh, honey! That's so sweet! I think that's okay with me, what about you, Jim?" She turned to Anna's father for a response.

"Why wasn't he at the police station when you got back?"

Anna kept calm, "He was…on a trip. A convention in…Boston. He's in business school. Just got back today. He wanted to come back earlier, but he didn't have a car with him, they all took a bus." Again, Anna mentally patted herself on the back for being so smooth.

Her father nodded, "And how long is a while?"

"I don't know, dad, not too long, I mean, he has to go home for Christmas break, so it can't be that long."

"What about school, honey? Doesn't he have classes?" Anna's mother asked.

"He doesn't mind taking the bus to campus when he has class, he's mostly online this semester."

Her dad stared her down some more before saying anything, "Alright, but I'd like to meet this boy.

"He's asleep right now, dear." Anna's mom said without thinking.

Anna looked up at her with wide eyes, the last thing she wanted her father knowing was that she was naked in bed with someone.

"And how do you know that?" He asked her.

Anna intervened, "I just said it, dad, jeez, pay attention."

Her dad huffed. It's not that her parents were super strict, they seemed to have to problem with her having a boy live with them temporarily, but nobody wanted that awkward conversation about Anna having sex. Especially since even if Anna did meet Loki in September when school started, it would only have been a few months, her parents would want her waiting longer than that to sleep with someone, like until marriage or something ridiculous like that.

Anna went back downstairs, leaving her parents to prepping dinner. Loki was still fast asleep with his mouth parted just a bit, breathing heavily. It was pretty adorable. She sat down next to him and began to push back his hair, hoping to wake him up gently.

"Loki…" she said gently. He stirred slightly, "Loki…"

He obviously wasn't ready to wake up, because he refused to open his eyes, but Anna had an epiphany as she was repeating his name. Loki…it wasn't a common name…Anna wasn't even sure if it was a name. It was a minor thing, but they were going to have to give him a nickname. The less suspicion, the better.

Loki finally woke up about an hour later, Anna was playing zombie games on her Xbox, so she didn't notice him until he sat on the floor behind her, putting his legs on either side of her. Anna jumped, "Oh god! You scared me!" She paused her game to turn to him, "Oh god! You're naked! Get decent, we have stuff to do."

Loki furrowed his brow, "Stuff? I wanted to watch you control this picture screen."

Anna was shocked, "You've…you've never played video games?" She shook her head, "never mind that, my parents are waiting for you, we can play games later."

Loki became tense immediately, "Right now?"

Anna smiled at his nervousness, "Are you nervous? A little shy? If you're going to live here, you have to meet the owners of the house."

Loki nudged her, "I'm not nervous! I need to shower, I'm covered in dry sweat."

"What a coincidence, I need to shower too." Anna said coyly crawling on top of Loki.

Loki lipped his lips and smiled, "You're trying to kill me."

Anna pretended to be shocked, "Sir! I just wanted to conserve water! You have such a dirty mind!"

Loki laughed as they got off the floor and made their way to Anna's private bathroom. She was thankful that she had her own bathroom, she shuddered at the thought of Loki walking in on one of her parents on the toilet or in the shower.

They did take a shower together, but it didn't end up sexual, for once. Loki shampooed Anna's hair and then gave him a bubbly beard. This was a side of Loki that Anna didn't get to see too often. 'Goofy' would never be an adjective that anyone would use to describe Loki, but he apparently had a goofy side, even if it was very very small and hidden. She laughed each time he hit his head on the shower head, everything on earth was much smaller than on Asgard. Even Loki laughed.

As they got dressed, Anna prepared Loki for dinner.

"Okay, so to start we're changing your name."

"What? Why?" Loki asked, upset.

"Because what even is a Loki? This is earth, I can't explain to my parents that you're an alien so you have an alien name."

"My name means to end of break or something like that, I don't know, I never listened to my mother."

"Okay, well now your name is…Luke, yeah, Luke, it's like Loki, but not. It means "man who wants to live in my house."

"I don't want to live here, love, I'm doing it for you."

"Okay, Luke, Whatever you say."

Loki huffed, "Okay, anything else?"

"Well of course, I made you a backstory. You're my grief-stricken boyfriend who can't bare to leave me on my own after I was tragically abducted but luckily returned. You were at a business convention in Boston, which is why you just came around. You're in business school, but mostly online classes, and…a virgin, but I doubt that will come up."

"A virgin? Anna, please, be realistic."

"I'm trying!"  
>"Well I'm telling you right now, I'm not going to remember that."<p>

Anna took him by the arm, "Well, just nod along with me then." She stopped to take a look at him, it wasn't a formal dinner or anything, Anna was in floral leggings and a black tank top. Loki was in the same clothes he had on the night before, jeans, a black tee shirts, and a grey hoodie.

"I like you in regular clothes." Anna said matter-of-factly, "But tomorrow we're going shopping for you, because we can't have you in the same outfit everyday.

"These clothes are so…boring. I feel exposed in them."

Anna laughed, "At least it doesn't take 15 minutes to get dressed every day."

"That's because you never used magic, dear."

"No magic! No powers! Think human. Remember, you're a human."

Loki scrunched his face, Anna kissed him lightly on the lips to stop him from firing back at her, it was time to meet the parents.

Anna's parents were already sitting at the table when they got upstairs. Her father instinctively stood up when he saw them. Anna's heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's wings.

"Mom, Dad, this is…Luke."

Loki smiled, as her dad outstretched his hand. Anna thanked god that he knew to shake it. Anna was hoping that dinner would be fairly quiet, but Loki shocked her by being generally warm and well knowledged on human culture. He made up a lot about school that she hoped he would remember later, and even had a sob story on hand about how distraught he was over Anna's "disappearance". This was the first 'boyfriend' that Anna brought home, any other love interest Anna had in her house was disguised as a friend, but it all went surprisingly well. Anna offered for her and Loki to clean the dishes, as her parents retired to their bedroom. Anna waited to hear their door shut before she started talking.

"Loki! You did great! How did you know so much about human culture?" Anna asked as she started clearing the table, Loki started to help but she ushered him to sit in the kitchen, she doubted he had any idea on how a dishwasher worked.

"This isn't my first time here, it's just my first extended stay."

"Ah, yes, when I was first introduced to other Asgardians, I was told how you had an appetite for mortals." Anna grimaced; she hated comparing herself to food for Loki.

Loki smirked and hugged her from behind as she rinsed the dishes, "I can't help it, you're all just so…submissive."

"I am not!" Anna said as she turned to face him. He began to kiss her slowly, Anna loved the phase they were in, where they couldn't keep their hands off of each other.

"I have to finish the dishes." Anna said, pushing Loki back with a scrub brush.

He waved his arm and all of the dishes went into the machine, Anna looked at him, surprised at his power.

"No, I will not start doing all of the chores, let's go."

She closed the dishwasher, turned it on, and followed him downstairs. He pulled her on top of him as they crashed onto the bed together.

"Didn't you want to play video games?" Anna asked in between kisses, she wanted him too, but she had to admit that she was a bit sore from earlier.

"After." Loki responded as he kisses down her collarbone.

"I'm sore, Loki" She was a little embarrassed admitting it, but he liked being rough so much, it took a toll on her.

"I'll be gentle." He responded.

Anna nodded and pressed on, there was a lot of kissing to warm up, and when Anna was warmed up, Loki laid her down and really was very gentle. There was a lot of kissing and not much intense thrusting; Anna was surprised by how much she enjoyed all sides of Loki's affections, depending on her mood. They finished more energetic than usual, and it didn't take long before Anna was on the floor in nothing but her underwear, starting a game. Loki sat down next to her in his underwear, and picked up a controller.

When Anna peered over at him, she couldn't help but laugh, "You're holding your controller upside-down, dummy."

Loki frowned and flipped it around, "I have no idea what I'm doing." He admitted.

Anna spent 10 minutes just explaining what a video game was, how you controlled a cartoon and that you had a different goal in each game. Then another 10 explaining buttons, and finally she let Loki free in a round. He was amazed that he controlled the cartoon, and seemed to enjoy it quite a lot, even though he spent most of the time running into walls and shooting his gun into the sky, not killing zombies. He died a lot, but by the end of their first round he had a big smile on his face, "Another! I could do this all night!"

Anna laughed, he was like a child. They played for four hours until Anna gave up and crawled into bed. She wasn't sure how much longer Loki went on for, but she remembered the feeling of his body conform to hers as he got into bed too. The two slept soundly into the early afternoon, only to wake to the light from the window rising over the curtains and into their eyes.

"Loki, wake up, we're going shopping today, and I honestly can't wait." Anna was never one to rise early, but with Loki around, she couldn't wait to start the day.

"You need to stop waking me up, I never woke you up when you were in Asgard." He rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head.

Anna decided to get a head start on the day by showering, doing her hair, and getting dressed, all before Loki opened his eyes. When he did decide to get out of bed, she was halfway done with her makeup. He gave her a kiss on her forehead as she was curled up in her oversized sweater, applying lipstick. He groggily walked to the bathroom, and came out ten minutes later looking much more energized.

"Waiting on you, sleepy." She said as she pushed her hair back with a headband.

He didn't take long, and soon they were on their way to the kitchen to grab a quick bite before heading out, Anna found her mom upstairs on the couch, reading a book.

"Hello dear! Where are you two off to?"

"Lo- Luke needs some clothes so we're going to the mall and then he has class. I'll probably drop him off and wait for him on campus, can I use the car?"

Anna's mother turned to look at her, "You're going to be on campus on your own?"

"Mom, it's the afternoon, I'll be fine."

Her mom nervously patted down her skirt, "Be careful sweetie, car keys are on the hook."

Loki looked guilty as they made their way out of the house, "What's wrong?" Anna asked him as they got into the car.

"Your mother must have been devastated when I took you."

"Let's not get into that, Loki, I want to have a good day."

Loki nodded, but didn't look satisfied. The drive to the mall was quiet, somewhat because of Loki's guilt over hurting Anna's family, but mostly because he was fascinated by the radio. He kept pressing new buttons and looking impressed when Anna knew the words to every dong, no matter the station.

"Your singing voice is lovely." He remarked. Anna smiled as she sang along to the music.

The mall was a frustrating experience for both of them. Loki only wanted to go into expensive stores where he could get suits, but since they were shopping with Anna's father's credit card, she made him go into stores geared towards young adults. He didn't like most of what she picked out, but they were able to get ten or so shirts, most of them business-casual types, but a few flannels. They also got him a few more pairs of jeans, a pair of black sneakers, and 4 pajama sets, even though he mostly slept in underwear. The most expensive item was a coat for the cold weather. Anna couldn't believe that Loki didn't have the sense to wear more than a hoodie when he came to Earth.

It was weird having to clothe Loki from scratch, Anna spent a lot of money on little things like a toothbrush, socks, underwear, plain tee shirts, and hair supplies. She was glad that she didn't go crazy on her dad's cars when it was just her shopping with it, because by the end of the day, she felt pretty awful about the amount of money she spent. She had to remind herself that she didn't have a choice, she couldn't have Loki in the same clothes every day, he would start to smell.

"So how did you decide on your one mortal outfit? You looked like you were going to rob a convenience store with that hoodie." Anna asked as they got back to the car after some food-court lunch. Anna was still laughing at the memory of Loki eating greasy fast food for the first time. He was both disgusted and delighted.

Loki chuckled, "I wanted to look inconspicuous."

"So…like a thief?"

"You didn't see me? Did you?"

"I was on drugs!" Anna retorted.

Loki's face fell a bit, "About that…the boy you were with…"

"Jake." Anna knew it bothered Loki, but he had put her through enough to hear her momentary lover's name.

"Jake," Loki grimaced, "Where is he now?"

"Back at his school, with my other friends, I suppose. I got a text from them that they were taking off back there just last night, actually."

Loki didn't say anything, "If you're wondering, Jake tried to contact me a bunch, all I said was that I got back together with my ex boyfriend and thanks for taking me to the party, but I freaked out when I saw my ex there and had to go. I don't think he cared about me leaving him that much though, I mean I barely knew him."

"You barely knew him, but you had sex with him…"

"I barely knew you when we had sex too, Loki, don't get all butt-hurt, it's over. Just like you're done with other women, I'm done with other men. It's even. We're squared, leave it."

"I suppose." Loki responded. He didn't seem angry or blue at all, Anna felt accomplished with how she handled that conversation.

When they got home and Loki was finally able to change out of his original outfit and into a flannel with a white tee shirt underneath and jeans. Anna was shocked at how well he blended in with his "mortal" clothes.

"I did a good job." She said, examining him.

"I suppose I do look okay in these clothes. I can live with them. Temporarily."

Anna wanted to comment on that word, "temporarily". They never discussed an end date to Loki's stay with her, but if she was sticking to her story, Christmas was in just over two weeks. She didn't want to separate from Loki so soon, but she couldn't leave her family for the holidays, and "Luke" couldn't stay away from his either.

Anna pushed it to the back of her mind and decided to enjoy their time together to the fullest. For the next week they acted like a true couple, sleeping together plenty, going out somewhere every day while pretending "Luke" had class, and generally just being happy together. Anna tried to give Loki the full mortal experience, going the zoo, the movies, coffee shops, they even went to a local band's show, but Loki couldn't understand how standing in a sweaty room with loud music was fun. He seemed to be doing well on Earth, and Anna wondered if he would ever considering making it his home. She didn't want to think too far ahead, but hell, not too long ago he was thinking about choosing her to be his wife.

When there was just one week until Christmas, as Anna was driving her and Loki home from the mall where she got her parents their presents, Anna decided to bring up her concerns.

"So, you've been here for what? Two weeks tomorrow?"

Loki nodded.

"I know I've explained to you the concept of Christmas, but the thing about the holiday is that…well, it's spent with family and since my parents believe you're just some normal college kid, they're going to expect you to go home for the holidays."

Loki was quiet for a moment, "So I have to leave you soon, go back home?"

"Some time in the next few days, yeah." Anna knew that Loki could tell that she wasn't happy about this, "Do you…will you go home…well, what I mean is…will you stay home?"

Loki sighed, "I can't live here forever, I have a place in Asgard. My mother knows I came here to find you, but whether I come back with you or not, I'm still expected to find a wife."

"Is that wife not me?" Anna said, she cursed herself for sounding like such a child.

"Are you willing to rule by my side? Live in Asgard with me? I know now that I can not force you, but that's my end goal, yes."

"What a beautiful proposal." Anna said sarcastically.

"This is just a discussion," Loki replied with a bit of a smile, "an official proposal would be much more grand, I promise you."

Anna smiled too, despite the tears in her eyes, as she started to speak, they started to fall, "I don't know if I can leave my family, what do I tell them? That I'm running away? I can't tell them that I'm leaving the planet, they'll think I've gone insane."

"Travel is easy, all you have to do is call Heimdel and he'll beam you back."

"So I shock them and move out with my boyfriend, what happens when they want to visit? Beam them up too?"

"Anna, I have immense power, I can have a house built somewhere for us, a fake home, an Earth vacation house."

"You'd…you'd do that for me?" Anna was wiping her tears as they stopped at a red light.

"Darling, it's nothing! Of course. Let's enjoy our last few days together, spend that dreadful week apart, and when we regroup, we can discuss this all in detail, hm?" He grabbed hold of her free hand as she drove.

"Loki…" She didn't know what to say, she was crying harder now.

"What causes to cry like this?"

"I just…I'm happy…I thought that this could be the end of us."

"You foolish girl! I want to spend my life with you. Honestly, I truly believe that."

"Your life…Loki…how long is your life?" This was another question that plagued Anna. Coming from another planet, she had a lot of questions about Asgardians themselves. They were all much larger and stronger than Anna, she assumed they had long life spans.

"Well…" Loki started, "I have a plan for that. Let's just say it's longer than yours, but it won't be a problem. Can you trust me on that?"

Anna wasn't completely comfortable with leaving that question unanswered, but she nodded anyway. Loki had made her so happy that night, she wasn't going to ruin it by being persistent on a question that he claimed not to be an issue.

Their last few days together went by incredibly fast. They spent most of them together in Anna's room. Just breathing in each other, preparing for their week apart. Loki promised to return for the 31st, when they would celebrate the mortal new year's eve and then discuss what the new year would bring for them as a couple.

It was the night of 23rd when Loki kissed her goodbye. He said goodbye to her parent's too, and then walked out the door, undoubtedly to be sucked into space by Heimdel before he reached the end of the block. Anna worried about how they would both handle a week alone. She would be counting down the days to the 31st, as she hoped he would.

On Christmas eve, as her family sat around the dinner table, Anna decided to dance around the idea of her living with Loki.

"So, I was thinking about doing an online program at school, I'm still kind of nervous about going back to campus, just being there gives me chills."

Anna's parents looked at each other for a second, then her mother spoke up, "I don't see that being a problem, do you Jim?"

"Sound's good to me," her father responded, "I like you safe at home."

"That's my issue." Anna responded, "I don't want to be at home forever, I was thinking of maybe getting an apartment off campus with some friends, maybe my room mate, Luke, and another person? They have those new co-ops that are really nice."

"Moving in with a boyfriend this early isn't the best idea, dear, you barely know him."

If only her mother knew how wrong she was.

"But it changes each semester, I can switch room mates if needed," Anna protested, "I'll get a job to help pay for it, I really want this."

Anna's father put up his hand, "we'll think about it, okay?"

Anna nodded, as long as the seed was planted, she was hopeful that it would grow into a full-fledged plan.

The week went faster than Anna thought it would, being away from Loki wasn't as dreadful as before, because she knew exactly when she would see him again. It was the beginning of the evening on New Year's Eve, Anna had on a short sparkly gold dress and was awaiting Loki in her bedroom. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and her makeup had been done for hours. She sipped on a flute of champagne that she had been refilling since she started getting herself ready for the night. Her parents had left just after they ate dinner for their church celebration, leaving Anna alone to pace around the house waiting for Loki. She knew of a few parties, and wasn't sure whether they'd party hop or settle at one of them, but she had no obligations to any of them, they were either being held by old high school acquaintances or at her college.

Anna poured the last of the champagne into her glass, as she took a seat at her dining room table. Wherever they ended up tonight, one thing was for sure, she wasn't driving, because she had ended up finishing an entire bottle of champagne. She was woozy, but alcohol didn't seem to affect her as easily as it had prior to drinking on Asgard. As she reminisced on her days on that foreign planet, her doorbell rang. She wasn't sure how Loki planned on turning up at her house, but she prayed that it was him, she couldn't bare to wait any longer.

She got up a little to fast and stumbled over herself as she rushed to the door, she opened it quickly, and thanked the heavens that it was Loki standing there, anyone else would have seen her excitement for a visitor and thought that she was crazy.

He didn't wait for a greeting, he pulled her in immediately for a long kiss, not even checking for her parents. He was wearing all black mortal clothes, black skinny jeans, a black button-up shirt, and a black tie. Anna loved when he looked like a human. Loki noticed her staring him up and down and smiled, "You taste like alcohol, dear."

Anna smiled, "I got bored waiting for you. I started to pre-game, there's plenty more, although, I'm not sure how much this will affect you, being used to the drinks on Asgard and all…"

Loki followed Anna to the kitchen, where there were more bottles of champagne along with a large bottle of vodka that Anna hadn't opened yet.

"I had to go downtown where they wouldn't check my age for all of this, we're not allowed to drink here until we're 21."

Anna didn't mean to date herself, but she saw a flash of concern pass Loki's face. She realized that he was quite possibly hundreds of years old, while she was barely 19. He reached for the champagne, but Anna stopped him.

"Honestly, I think you might be better off with this." Anna said, as she handed him the vodka. She pulled out some pineapple and cranberry juice that she had mixed earlier, and put it in a cup with the vodka. Loki took it from her and took a big gulp.

His eyes grew wide, "This is delectable! Better than the drinks back home!" Anna watched as he chugged the cup, and then two more. She was amazed at how he could take down vodka like that. She opened another bottle of champagne, and they drank and laughed together on the couch, as they watched the festivities in New York City on the television.

"It's getting late." Anna said after they were both nearly trashed, slumped on top of one another, laughing at the ridiculous people dancing on the television, "I had parties that I wanted to take you to. We have less than two hours until midnight."

Loki waved his hand and turned the lights out in the room, "But I'm having such a good time here." He responded.

They started to kiss, but as Loki started to raise his hand up Anna's dress, Anna began to feel a bit too woozy.

"Loki…I don't feel well, can we go downstairs?" Loki stopped immediately and put his arm around her, guiding her to her bedroom. She collapsed on her bed and turned on the television. Loki loosened his tie, and sat at the foot of his bed, taking off her heels.

"Do you want to turn in, love?" He asked.

Anna yawned, "No, we're going to miss the new year." But her eyes were already closing.

Loki finished undressing, and stood in his underwear as he pulled off Anna's dress. Anna began to breathe more heavily as he did so, she was about to drift off. He slipped on one of her oversized shirts that she liked so much over her head ever so gently, so that he wouldn't disturb her and crawled into bed behind her. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the warmth of his arms around her, keeping her dizziness at bay.

She stirred a bit as the people on her television screen began to scream, she rolled over to see Loki, snoring slightly with his mouth open just a bit. She kissed him on the cheek, and then nuzzled tighter into his chest, "Happy new year." She whispered, right before drifting off again.

Anna expected to get a good night's sleep, seeing that she was pretty drunk when she went to bed, but her eyes shot open as the sky had just begun to lighten. As the last of the night's stars twinkled, Anna made a beeline for the bathroom and made it just in time to vomit into the toilet bowl. Her head was spinning, as she started to run the bath to make herself feel better. She had never really had a hangover in her life, she was lucky that her youth prevented more than a headache from aching her after a party, but tonight was very different. She took off her night shirt that she barely remembered Loki putting on her, and laid in the warm bath until her fingers were prunes. The relaxing made her feel better, and she was able to get in a few more hours of sleep without Loki noticing that she had left the bed.

She woke up next to the sun in her eyes and the smell of bacon making it's way down the stairs. Anna usually reveled in the smell of breakfast, but on this day, it made her sick once again. This time, her hasty escape from Loki's arms woke him up, he groggily rose out of bed to check on Anna, who felt awful, but couldn't bring herself to throw up. As Loki got to the bathroom, she was already leaving the toilet with a serious case of heart burn.

"Too much alcohol?" Loki asked, as Anna sat back down in bed.

"I've never had a hangover like this, I got sick earlier, but now it's just nausea, and this awful heartburn." She said as she grabbed her chest.

"Want me to go get you some coffee maybe? And toast?" Loki asked.

Anna nodded, by the time he got back she was feeling much better, and kept down her breakfast without any issues. After they both showered, they spent the day playing video games and relaxing. Anna wanted to bring up planning for the new year, but she decided to enjoy their first full day back together before bringing up any serious conversations.

As they laid down in Anna's bed, watching a bad horror movie that was more a comedy than anything, Anna wondered about Loki's time back home.

"Did you enjoy being back home, Loki?"

"No. I wondered about you the whole time."

Anna smiled, "That's sweet, are you lying?"

"No! I swear! I didn't do much, I wasn't depressed and in bed all day, but I mostly just hung around, talked with some old friends I haven't seen in a while…"

"Friends, hm?"

"_Just_ friends. I swear. Do I detect a hint of jealousy, my dear?"

Anna scoffed, "No! I was just wondering…" Anna took a deep breath, "I missed you a lot too. I talked to my parents about moving in with you, I mean, obviously they don't know the details of our relationship, so they weren't thrilled about the idea, but I think I can make them come around."

Loki pulled her in tighter, "So…you would move to Asgard with me."

Anna paused, "Yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying."

Loki furrowed his brow, "You sound less than thrilled."

"I don't know. What would I do if I lived on Asgard? I don't know much about the place. I do know that you don't have television or internet or video games or college. I'm afraid I might go mad if I lived there." Loki didn't respond, he just looked upset. Anna continued, "Not that I don't want to, Loki, because I really do. I want to live with you and be with you. It took some time to realize that, but I'm sure of it now."

Loki was silent for a moment, "You know high society types here? Well, life would be like that for you. You wouldn't _have _to do much, but you _could_ do whatever you want."

Anna liked how that sounded, "What if I wanted to spend time on Earth?"

"You'd be given that freedom, as my wife."

Anna laughed, "I like the sound of that too…" Anna knew she shouldn't bring up the age situation, but it was weighing heavily on her mind, "and what happened when I die?"

Loki looked a bit startled, "Do you plan on dying any time soon?" He asked jokingly.

"No, I'm serious. I know that you're way older than you look, I'm going to age like a human, while you stay like…this…"

"I won't let that happen. As long as you're willing to do it, I have a plan that could make us immortal. As young and beautiful as we are right now, forever."

Anna didn't believe him, "That doesn't sound real."

"Can you trust me, love?" Loki asked as he kissed her head.

"I hope so." She said, as she closed her eyes. It was a lazy day, but it made her tired. She would speak to her parents once again about moving in with Loki in the morning.

Again, Anna woke up well before Loki, as the sun was beginning to rise. Nausea swept over her just like the day before, except this time it made no sense, she hadn't had a drop to drink. She didn't get sick, but she couldn't even lay back down before the room started spinning. She sat in bed, listening to Loki breathe deeply as she pondered what could possibly be wrong with her. If it was a virus, it was definitely a strange one. She decided that if it continued another day, she would go see a doctor.

As the sun rose, Anna's parents woke up, she heard them shuffling around above her. She went upstairs to talk to them over breakfast.

"So, the new semester is coming up soon, people are putting deposits down on their dorms and such and my friends are asking me about my portion of the apartment, if I'm going to be a part of it, they're going to need my money. If I'm no they're going to have to go roommate hunting…"

Anna's mother was silent, as she sipped her coffee, her dad looked at her sternly.

"We spoke to Luke yesterday about this briefly, he said you weren't feeling well, how are you?"

Anna hadn't even realized that Loki probably ran into her parents as he retrieved food for the pair all day yesterday.

"Oh, I'm okay. This morning I woke up nauseous, but I'm okay now."

Anna's mother smiled, "Well good. We like Luke a lot, and have decided that if you truly think it's a good idea, we'll trust your judgment and let you go ahead with the apartment."

Anna was surprised, she didn't expect it to be so easy, "Really? What did Luke say to you guys? Did he pay you off?"

Anna's father laughed, "He made us realize how much safer you would be with three friends in your apartment. Your mother and I have been very apprehensive about having you leave us again."

Anna smiled, "Well, thanks guys, you made my day."

Anna poured herself some orange juice and sipped it slowly, not to make her feel sick again. As she opened the basement door to walk down the stairs, her mother called after her, "Oh, honey, I forgot, Doctor Schmalz called for you yesterday, I told him that you weren't feeling well, but he said that you're well past your due appointment date and need to schedule with him immediately."

Anna became frozen in place. Doctor Schmalz was her gynecologist. Anna had birth control, but hadn't taken it since she was taken to Asgard. She hadn't even thought about it, at first she was so swept up in being abducted, that it hadn't even crossed her mind. She had a post-it on her calendar in her dorm to remind her to take a pill every day, she often forgot, she was still getting used to them. How could she be so dumb? She was having sex with Loki so often, and now she was feeling sick.

Anna tried to calm herself down, since starting the birth control at the start of the semester, she hadn't gotten a period. Her doctor told her that this was typical, that the pills mess with your hormones and sometimes it took a few months to get back on track. Without a monthly reminder that pregnancy was a thing, Anna just assumed that she was in the clear. She went on her computer and scheduled an appointment with Doctor Schmalz immediately. His next opening wasn't for 4 days, and the only option for the day was 8am. She clicked it, not caring about having to get up so early. She wasn't going to be able to rest until she knew that she was in the clear. Yes, she was playing with the idea of marrying Loki and yes, she just found out that she had to go-ahead to move in with him on Asgard, but having a baby already? She was only 19, she wasn't even planning on thinking about the actual wedding until she turned 20, maybe plan it for when she's 21 and babies? Not for years after that. But there was no holding it off if she was pregnant. What would Loki say? She couldn't even think about it.

Anna turned to Loki to make sure that he was still asleep, slowly, she slipped on a pair of boots and grabbed the car keys.

As she drove to the drug store for an at-home pregnancy test, Anna started to shake. She knew that they weren't always 100%, but 4 days was too long to wait, she at least had to have an idea of what to expect at the doctors. She bought 3 tests and a box of condoms. If this test said that she was in the clear, she wasn't going to take any more risks.

Walking through the house, past her parents was awkward. She felt like they knew what was going on. If they found out that she was pregnant, the whole move would be off. They would want to take care of her, and keep her sheltered with this half-alien child.

"Where did you run off to, honey? I didn't even hear you leave."

"Oh…I needed…Advil…yeah, cramps. Bad ones. Needed something for them."

"Oh, well there's a heating pad in the closet, do you want it?"

"Not now, mom. Maybe later. Thanks."

She cursed herself as she hastily walked to her door. Now there was no way she could tell them if the test was positive, she just lied to their faces. She wasn't sure if she would tell them anyway, maybe she could run off to Asgard and have the maids take care of the baby. Hide it all from her parents. She shook her head as she walked down the stairs, she was thinking too far ahead. One thing at a time, she had to take this test.

Loki was watching television when she got back to her room. He frowned at her, obviously noticing that something was wrong.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Anna was on the verge of tears, "Nothing! Just not feeling well."

She darted into the bathroom, and locked the door behind her. She didn't want to worry Loki if there was truly nothing to worry about. Or even worse, scare him away.

Anna chugged the cranberry juice that she got along with the tests and was able to pee on two of them. She sat on the edge of the bath for the allotted 10 minutes with her head in her hands. She watched as a single pink line appeared on the first test, and then the second. She held her breath. One was no, two was yes. As she stood there, feeling as if she were being held under water, it happened. On both tests, nearly simultaneously, appeared a second pink line. Anna stared at her bathroom counter, not knowing what to do.

She read the instructions three times over, before accepting that there was no such thing as a false positive. False negatives were a thing, but false positives? Anna put the third test under the sink and threw away all of the evidence. She took a few deep breaths before leaving the bathroom; she didn't want Loki to suspect anything.

Part of her wanted to tell him immediately, he said that he loved her, he wanted to marry her, and this was going to happen eventually. Was it that terrible?

But these thoughts were overpowered by the idea of her holding a child on their wedding day. This was moving way too fast, and she knew it. They were supposed to enjoy their, or at least Anna's, youth together. They would live together and have fun and be free, then get married and enjoy that for some time. Kids were way down the line. Suddenly, the end of the line was hauntingly apparent.

Loki had started up the video games, "Do you want to join me? I went upstairs for a bite to eat, your parents told me that they gave you the go-ahead to move out, isn't that amazing news?"

Anna gave him a weak smile, "Yeah, it's great. Uhm, I'll just watch you play, for now."

She sat down on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest. Loki didn't start playing, he just watched her.

"Something's wrong." He said softly.

She nodded her head yes and started to tear up.

He moved onto the bed and pulled her into his chest, "What is it? What's going on? Don't you want to do this? Come with me? Are you having a change of heart?"

Anna shook her head "no" as the tears began to fall.

"I can't, right now, Loki. It's too much. I want to go with you terribly, but what if something happens that makes _you_ change your mind?"

"I can't imagine such a thing."

"Have you ever pictured yourself as a father?" Anna asked boldly, she held her breath as she awaited his answer and regretted asking every second that he took thinking about his response.

"Well, yes. Eventually. I didn't have a great father, the man I called my father isn't even my blood. I'd like to make sure my child has a better life than I did. So yes, I mean, everyone will expect it once we get married, of course. Did you think I wouldn't? Is that what you want? This is something that we can work on, it's nothing to get upset about, darling."

"I agree, I want kids in the future."

Loki smiled, "So no tears necessary! We're on the same page." He wiped her tear-stained cheeks.

"But it's not up to me. I wanted children in a few years, but…but…" Anna couldn't get the words out, she just started crying more.

Loki had a concern look on his face, as Anna cried and pulled her knees in closer to her, his face went from confusion and concern, to deep understanding.

"Oh…Anna…are you…did we…?"

Anna began to cry harder, Loki pulled her in so close, he was nearly squeezing her to death.

"No…no need for tears. This is okay. My life has never gone as planned, this is nothing new. It's going to be okay." He cooed her, "I'm not leaving you. Don't you worry. I'm right here."

Anna hoped that he meant that, because she had no idea what her next move was going to be.

Anna stayed like that, crying in Loki's arms for quite some time before she was able to calm herself down. They sat on her bed in silence for even longer, as Anna decided on what she wanted to say.

"I don't want my parents to know." She said finally, "I want to leave here as soon as possible. Get to Asgard and…I don't know, deal with this."

"You can't just keep a grandchild away from your parents, love." Loki said as he stroked her hair.

"Why not? I'm keeping an entire planet from them, this is just a child. They'll think I'm off at school and when I do come back, we just leave the child in Asgard. Easy."

"So you want to keep our child a secret from them…forever? That's a little ridiculous."

"Honestly, I don't want it at all Loki. I don't know the first thing about taking care of a baby. I need help from Ragna. She told me how she helped raise you, so she can raise this baby too."

"I think you're acting out of fear, we have time, just calm down, we can think this over."

"I don't want to think this over, Loki." Anna wasn't sure why, but she was angry. She was scared and all she wanted was Loki's help in running away from her problems, even if she couldn't truly run, her problem was inside of her.

"Why don't we get you to a doctor, maybe the test was wrong, we don't have much information. Just…just sit down."

Loki wasn't helping at all, Anna was in full panic mode, "No! You don't understand, I'm freaking out right now, and you want me to be calm! I don't want this! I…I want to get rid of it."

"What do you mean? You can't? Can you?"

"I can get it…taken care of…here we have doctors that can do that, that can get rid of a baby before it's born."

"Anna, I…we don't have that. I've never heard of that, but I…well, I don't want that."

"Well, in the end, it's not your decision, is it?" Anna wasn't even sure of what she was saying. She wasn't a proponent for abortion herself, or at least, she never was before. She knew that she was acting on impulse, but she couldn't control what she was saying. "What if…what if the baby has powers like you, hm? How do I explain that to anyone I know on Earth? What if it turns blue sometimes? What if my parents refuse to let me leave the house pregnant? All of our plans ruined, by a fixable problem, Loki. Maybe you're the one not thinking rationally."

Loki took both of Anna's hands and laid her down on the bed and held her down.

"What are you doing?" She said as she wriggled beneath his strength.

"Look at me, Anna. You aren't in control of your emotions. You're not going to sprout a protruding belly tomorrow. You have time to think about this. We have time to think about this. Please calm down, you're scaring me."

"I'm scaring you?"

Loki looked sympathetic as he continued to hold her down.

Anna started crying again.

"It's okay, darling, you need to calm down." Loki said as he loosened his hold on her.

Anna tried to speak, but her tears quickly turned into sobs, "Pl-Please don't le-le-leave me." That was all she was able to manage to sputter out.

Loki looked even more concerned than before, "Darling, I already told you that I'll be here for you."  
>"Even if I'm having a panic attack? Or fat and gross? Or having a child before we get a chance to get engaged or married, oh my god, I've barely met your parents…"<p>

"ANNA!" Loki shouted, his voice rang off the walls. Anna silenced immediately, "Stop! Stop! I made the mistake of leaving you once already, I saw what it was like first hand to lose you, I'm not going to do it again! I have a plan, do you want to hear my plan?"

Anna nodded, still shocked by his shouting.

"First, we are getting you to a doctor to check on you. Then we will go to Asgard, because we don't want to worry your parents and you're right, I trust my doctors with a possible Frost Giant baby more than I trust mortal ones. But we have to tell your parents about the baby eventually, but we have time, dear, we really do. We can say you didn't even realize until you started sprouting a belly, that you had no symptoms. I still plan on marrying you, and introducing you to my parents, and being with you always. This just sets back our plans a little. So stop crying and stop acting irrationally, because we can handle this."

Anna remained silent as tears ran down her cheeks. Loki went on, "Now, what can we do that will make you feel better. You can't let anyone see you like this, you don't look well at all.

Anna nodded her head "no".

"Anna, there must be something we can do, you need to show me an apartment that we can set up as a decoy for your parents? Do you want to do that?"

Anna wasn't in the mood to go fake apartment hunting, she wasn't really in the mood to do much of anything, "Can we just lay down for a bit?"

Loki nodded, "Yeah, that's nice too."

Anna pulled Loki in to lie down behind her, she pulled in her arm tight to her chest, breathing him in. He was doing everything right, so why did she still feel so alone and scared?

Anna spent the next few days mostly in bed. She started to show Loki apartments that were close to her school on her computer. She was going to stick with the story of taking online classes, but that didn't mean that they could go anywhere, "Luke" was still in business school. This did make her feel a bit better, she really wanted to be back on Asgard, where she knew she would be taken care of.

They both liked a place that was about 45 minutes from her parents and 20 from the school. It was set up to be a split apartment, with two big bedrooms for two people each in it. They set up a time to tour it after Anna's gynecologist appointment, even though they didn't plan on spending much time there at all. Loki had the money as long as it fit all of their faux needs, and if all went to plan, Anna could be back on Asgard within a week or so. This was the solace that she held on to as she drove to the doctors with Loki in the passengers seat. She wasn't expecting a change in diagnosis, the test told her all she needed to know. And if that wasn't enough, she was still sick every single morning. Anna hoped that she could be prescribed something for that.

She nearly started crying as she explained her situation to her doctor. She had Loki wait outside in the waiting room, she didn't want him to affect her emotional state or see the in's and out's of what mortal gynecologists do to their patients. She assumed they had magical doctors back on Asgard, to him this whole thing would be barbaric. The doctor ran several tests that spanned from a pregnancy test just like the one she took at home to an ultrasound.

As he rubbed the jelly on her stomach he asked Anna for what felt like the tenth time, "Are you sure you don't want your boyfriend in here with you? This is usually done with the father present..."

Anna nodded, "I'm fine, really, just need the details."

Her doctor nodded and started to move the machine around her stomach. The two stared at the monitor like it was the final minutes of a football game in over time.

"Well, the tests don't lie, you are definitely with child, congratulations!"

Anna sighed deeply to stop herself from crying, "Thank you." She said solemnly.

Her doctor furrowed his brow, "I can see that you're about 6 weeks along, which would explain the morning sickness you described. Seems right on time."

"Yeah, is there anything I can get for that? It's awful."

Her doctor chuckled lightly, "Yes, I can write down a medication and a few more natural suggestion if you would like." He then frowned a bit, "Listen, I can't help but notice that you're not too enthusiastic. Now, let me just say that this is truly wonderful news, a new life is a beautiful thing. But you're young, I know what it's like to be young. Would you like to discuss all of your options?"

Anna felt uncomfortable, "Well…" She thought about how upset Loki looked when she mentioned terminating the pregnancy. She knew that he didn't understand, but her gut told her that even if he did understand, he would protest. "I know of my options, I just haven't made any decisions yet. As of right now, I plan on keeping it."

Her doctor nodded, "Well, the first step in having a baby is telling your partner. I believe he's the nervous one in the waiting room? I'll set up your next appointment with the office and have them call you. For now, I'm going to give you some reading material so you know exactly what's changing in your body, what you should and shouldn't do, and all of that." Anna nodded, and went to go get dressed.

"Oh!" Her doctor stopped her, "I'm not sure what you're thinking exactly, but if you do decide to terminate the pregnancy, earlier is best, so please don't wait too long on that decision."

Anna nodded as she turned away. The idea of having an abortion made her weak in the knees, but then again, so did the idea of being a mother.

When she got to the waiting room, she found Loki hunched over in a seat with his hands to his lips, his leg was shaking nervously. Their eyes met, and she gave him a weak smile. He went up to her and offered her a supportive hug as they made their way out of the doctor's office.

"What did he say?" He asked gently.

Anna wasn't crying, which surprised her. Perhaps she was coming to terms with her situation. "He said I'm about 6 weeks along? I've done the math, that puts us back in Asgard, like right before I left?"

Loki let out a chuckle, "Ah, yes, I bet it was the night of the celebration."

Anna smiled at the memory, or what she had left of it as they got into her car.

"From what I remember, that was a fun night." She reminisced, as she began their drive to the apartment they were scheduled to look at.

"We both had quite a bit to drink that night, is it bad that you also had quite a lot to drink the other night? Or on the night when I came back from Asgard for you? Because that means you were pregnant then, no?"

Anna's eyes grew wide, Loki was right, she had been drinking freely without knowing she was pregnant. "Oh my god, should I go back? I didn't ask. I didn't realize!"

Loki smirked, "You do care about the baby."

"I…what? Yeah, I guess so, I mean, I don't want to hurt it."

"Calm down" Loki said, "I asked a nurse about it as you were with the doctor. It's common for women to drink before they know that they're pregnant, as long as they stop as soon as they find out, they're fine."

"If you knew that, why did you try to scare me?" Anna asked, confused.

Loki took hold of her free hand and kissed it, "That was a test, darling. You got quite nervous there."

"Loki, I'm still not totally on board with being a parent. Can you even imagine it? What kind of parents would we be? You can't ever get angry with it, I can't have emotional breakdowns, we can't fight. I don't even know the first thing about Asgard, can I even take it outside? I know it feels like we've known each other forever and I know it feels like love, but I just met you a few months ago. We need to grow this relationship before bring a child into the world."

Loki looked out his window in silence.

"Are you thinking or being stubborn, Loki? I know that I can be irrational, but I know what I'm saying…"

"There isn't a way for me to prove it to you, but I will not ruin this child's life like mine was done for me. I vow to be a good father, regardless of how inconvenient the timing is."

Anna sighed, "Okay, so we're still undecided."

Luckily, they had reached the apartment, because Anna felt that if that car ride was to go on any longer, it would be extremely silent and uncomfortable.

"It's nice." Loki said as he examined the rooms. Anna didn't even think the visit was necessary, they weren't actually going to use this place as more than a vacation house. After another half hour of walking around the empty apartment, Loki decided to purchase it, signing some papers right there, on the spot.

He walked out of the apartment with a smile, "So that's that." He said.

"How do you know anything about mortal real-estate?" Anna asked as they got back into the car.

"I read a lot. There's a lot of time to read on Asgard."

Anna rolled her eyes, "Don't I know it. Well, I'm glad we found a suitable fake home. That means we can leave here soon."

"I thought we could spend a few days here, we have to furnish it for your parents. They're not just going to let you run off to college with your boyfriend."

Anna sighed, "Yeah. I guess you're right. Okay, but let's get moving. Literally."

It was only a few days until Anna had her room in boxes. She worked tirelessly to get everything squared away. Loki kept trying to get her to sit town and take a break, but she didn't want to wait any longer. His job was to get the furniture for the apartment, make it look like 4 people would be living there. Anna's was to pack away everything she would normally take with her to school. Her parents were excited to see the apartment, and while Anna was grateful for their support, she was more than ready to say goodbye to them. Every day that she spent in their house, walking around like nothing was wrong made her feel more and more terrible. She knew that if she wanted to, she could tell them right then and there that she was pregnant. It wasn't any of Loki's concern and he would support her regardless. But if she didn't wait, there was a huge chance that they would stop her from moving out, which would destroy her.

Anna drove one of the family's cars up to the apartment with Loki, while her parents trailed behind her in their second car along with most of Anna's belongings. Anna worried about seeing the apartment, she hadn't seen what Loki had done yet, but she couldn't act surprised with her parents. This was the last time she would have to keep her cool, before they finally said their goodbyes.

Her parents insisted that she keep the old car that she had been driving since returning home, even though she insisted that she was fine with public transport. In reality, Loki could take her anywhere that she needed to go, but she couldn't tell them that.

Anna had some serious butterflies as they walked up the stairs, Loki had proved himself several times throughout this move, but this apartment had to impress her parents or everything could be ruined. She dreamed for the days when she could relax in Asgard, with nothing but time to figure out what she would do with the child growing inside of her. She used to think of Asgard as a prison, but now it was her only haven.

Loki was the first to push through the door, Anna followed with one of her boxes to find that Loki had once again proved himself to her. It was basic, but very accurate to what four college kids would have as their apartment. He even left some utensils in the sink, and the pillows on the couch a bit disheveled to make it look lived in.

"Elissa and her brother are out for the day, they said that they're sorry they couldn't be here to meet you."

"Oh, that's fine, honey, we're just here to help you get everything inside and say our goodbyes, we know that you don't want us to linger." Her mother responded.

Anna had a while story written up in her head about Elissa and her brother, the classes they were taking, how they were twins going to the same school together, but something about Loki made them much more relaxed when it came to Anna's safety. She was glad that he was so good with them, the less she had to lie to their faces, the easier it would be to see them when she had to.

They helped finish bring in Anna's boxes and didn't linger too long. Soon enough Anna and Loki were alone in their apartment. Anna went to start unpacking her stuff in their bedroom, which was decorated eerily similar to Loki's room in Asgard, but Loki stopped her.

"Can you just relax for a moment, we're alone now." He said softly as he pulled her by the waist away from the boxes and onto the sofa. She sat in his lap, as he played with her hair, which was a mess everywhere.

"I want to get this place together before we leave for Asgard." She said, touching his cheek.

He kissed her gently on the lips, "What's the rush? We're fine right here."

"You don't miss your home, Loki? Your mother?"

"There's nothing there for me that isn't right here."

She smiled and kissed him for a long while. She wanted to relax, but she couldn't knowing that there was a human inside of her. She wasn't comfortable with it, and it was all that she could think about. Loki kissed her back even harder, she wanted to focus completely on him, but all that was on her mind was her pregnancy.

"Anna" Loki said, as he stopped kissing her, "Where is the Anna I know? What's going on? I need you to relax."

"Honestly, Loki," Anna said, as she stood up off the couch, "I don't see myself ever relaxing again." She returned to her boxes, lifting one up to bring it to their room.

Loki followed behind her with a box of her clothes, "Well, let me try to help you relax." He said coyly, as he fell to his knees behind her.

"Loki, what are you-" She couldn't figure out what he was doing, until he started pulling her pants down. She wasn't sure if anything would make her feel better, including sex, but the look in his eyes said that he was determined.

Once he had pulled down her leggings, he spun her around and put his head in between her legs. It took some time of him sucking and licking her, but soon enough, she had her head thrown back in bliss. She had to admit that Loki was talented. He came back up and began to kiss her passionately, throwing her down on the bed. She was more than ready for him, it had been quite some time since they had been intimate.

"Tell me, pet." He said into her ear as he teased himself between her legs, "shall I go soft or rough." He growled the last part into her ear. She never wanted to come down from the high she was on.

"Rough." She growled right back to him.

He flipped her over nearly effortlessly, so she was on her stomach. Suddenly, Loki was in front of her, completely naked. She was confused for a moment, as she still felt Loki's length teasing her entrance, but a quick turn of the head showed her that there were indeed two Loki's in the room, a trick that he hadn't performed since she was a prisoner in his bedroom. The first Loki, the original, or so she believed, entered her forcefully from behind, but she was ready for it. He started to pick up his speed as the second Loki placed himself at the entrance of her lips, beckoning for Anna to open her mouth. She obliged, and began to suck on him, wondering what this felt like for Loki. The first Loki pounded into Anna hard. With every forceful thrust, Anna sucked harder on the second Loki, while also moaning loudly with pleasure.

Anna had come several times, when it felt as if both Loki's were about to burst. She braced herself for their completion when suddenly the second Loki pulled himself out of her mouth and walked to the opposite end of her. The first Loki finished and collapsed on the best next to her. Anna was tired too, but before she could relax on the bed, the second Loki had his hands around her waist and entered her. She gasped when he did, and looked over to the Loki on the bed. He just smirked at her and closed his eyes. Listening to the music of her moans of pleasure. It didn't take long for the second Loki to finish, as he was nearly there earlier, but when he did they came together in one final blast of pleasure. Anna couldn't take it anymore and fell face down on to the bed as the second Loki disappeared, only leaving the first on the bed next to her.

"How do you feel now?" He asked with a smile, "Because I could go again if you really need it."

Anna's legs felt like gelatin. She was barely able to shake her head, "no". Loki pulled her into him and kissed her forehead. Anna breathed into his shoulder and pulled the blanket over them, wrapping them up in one another.

"I love you." She said as she began to drift off to sleep.

He pulled her in extra tight, "And I, you."

Anna woke late that night, and unraveled herself from Loki's embrace. She took a quick shower, and felt better than she had all week. Quietly, to not wake Loki, Anna started unpacking the boxes. She really just wanted to be done with it all. She nearly finished by the time the sun began to rise into the sky. Anna sat on the couch, with a cup of tea, watching the world light up out of the giant window in the living room. She thought about how wonderful she felt with Loki, and with her hand on her stomach, for the first time, she thought about keeping the child. She imagined having a little girl, and naming her after a Disney princess. One of the ones she loved as a child herself.

She jumped as Loki emerged from the bedroom, looking like a zombie. He collapsed on the couch next to her, putting his head in her lap.

"What are you doing up?" She asked him, brushing his hair with her fingers.

"I could ask you the same thing." He said groggily.

"I couldn't sleep, so I finished unpacking."

Loki smiled weekly as he lifted his face to her neck, "What did I say about relaxing, do I need to teach you another lesson?"

Anna giggled, "The only thing you could teach me a lesson in right now is sleeping. No way do you have the energy for a repeat of last night."

Loki laughed with her, "You're right."

"C'mon, lets go back to bed." She said as she pulled him off the couch. He fell asleep almost the instant that his head hit the pillow, but Anna was still thinking about their child. She still wanted to go through pregnancy in Asgard, but perhaps living in between the two worlds wasn't a terrible idea. She decided not to tell Loki about her thoughts. Her mind was changing so rapidly, she didn't want him to think that her final decision was to commit to being parents.

A week passed quickly in their new home. Truly being alone with Loki was helping Anna feel better about her condition. She was able to focus less on the feeling that she had a parasite inside her, and more on how happy she was with Loki. The two played video games together, watched movies, and read books like they did on Asgard. It wasn't until they were half way into their second week that Anna brought up leaving Earth.

The two were sitting on the sofa, watching a black and white movie. Both were starting to drift off from boredom, so Anna decided to nonchalantly bring up the move, "If we wait too long to go to Asgard, we're not going to be able to go. Who knows what kind of affects that wild ride will have on the baby?"

"Are you still dying to go back? I thought we were enjoying ourselves here."

"I am, but the sooner we go back, the better, no?"

"What if you decide you don't want to have the baby, there are no ways to get rid of the child on Asgard, and we can't keep traveling between worlds in your condition, you're correct when you say that."

"Well, perhaps I've made my decision." Anna said calmly.

Loki's eyes lit up like a kid's on Christmas morning, "You have?"

"I'm hoping for a girl." time, She said with a sly grin on her face.

Loki turned to Anna and started kissing her over and over, "Let's finish out the week, then. My mother will be delighted to see us again."

Anna was laughing as Loki showered her in kisses, "So that was the secret." She hadn't seen Loki smile so much ever.

Anna was excited to get to Asgard. This time, she would have her own belongings. Loki even promised to set up a television in which they could play games on. He also promised phone service so she could stay in touch with home. After she had the baby, he would show her how to travel whenever she wanted, but for now, they both agreed that it would be safer to stay on Asgard.

Anna held tight to Loki, as her and her duffle bag full of belongings traveled through space to Asgard. When she opened her eyes, it was just as she remembered it. Everything was massive, and for the first time, she was really able to take it all in as they made their way to the palace.

They were greeted by two maidservants, "Where is my mother?" Loki asked.

Anna smiled at how excited he was to see Frigga; it was actually quite cute.

"Gone on business, sir, she will be back tomorrow, master." One of the women answered.

"Very well, have lunch sent to my room then."

They walked, hand in hand, to Loki's room. It was all so familiar to Anna, it gave her chills.

"I know this room doesn't hold the best memories, but I vow to make new ones with you here. And no more being locked in, you are free to go wherever you please."

Anna smiled weakly, she believed Loki and was happy for her freedom, but it wasn't a simple task to shake all of the fighting and isolation she had endured in his room.

As she began to take her things out of her bag, someone came in with lunch.

"We can eat elsewhere, if you'd like. You've eaten too many meals in this room." Loki offered.

"No, it's fine. It's just strange seeing you like this back in your own home. Earth changed you."

"You changed me. That was the old me. The pre-Anna me. It took some of my own isolation to realized how much of a git I was, but now I know, and I'm ready to make up for it.

The two ate and then spent the rest of the night setting up the gaming system. They fell asleep on Loki's cold, hard floor, to the sound of the game's menu screen.

Anna woke early in the morning to find that Loki had moved her to the bed. She heard the shower running and decided to join him so that they could start their day. She entered the familiar bathroom to find him washing his hair.

"Ah! You're awake! Care to join me?"

Anna went to the toilet first, "I think I'm just going to take a bath, I'm feeling a little sore from sleeping on the floor."

Anna looked down as she took off her panties, and discovered a terrifying sight.

"Loki, I'm bleeding." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

He looked at her with wide eyes, as the last of the shampoo rinsed out of his hair.

"What?" He asked, in a shocked tone.

"I'm bleeding. There's blood on my underwear." Her voice was shaking.

Loki jumped out of the shower and with a wave of his hands was fully dressed.

"RAGNA!" He shouted out, as the maidservant appeared.

"What's wrong?" She asked in the most informal tone Anna had ever heard her speak in. She must have truly cared for Loki, to just know by the tone of his voice that he was panicked.

"She's bleeding." Loki said, Ragna looked confused, no one knew that Anna was pregnant yet.

"Bloody hell, she's pregnant and she's bleeding!" He said, as if Ragna should have known.

"Oh! Okay, well come to the bed, I'll call in a few nurses. This may be nothing."

Suddenly several more women flooded into the room. They asked Anna dozens of questions about what she knew about the pregnancy, the pain she was in (none), when her last period was. Anna was dizzy by all of the concerned eyes on her. She was crying the whole time as Loki paced back and forth around the bed, trying to figure out what was happening as the nurse's did.

One nurse brought in a large machine that went over the bed, Anna assumed that it was similar to an ultrasound, but it didn't touch her at all. There was no screen, but a hologram of words and photos, the nurses moved them around with their hands, it was like she was in a sci-fi movie.

After several moments of murmurs from the nurses amongst much silence, Ragna spoke up, "Just as I said, dear. Normal spotting. Nothing to fear here, everything seems fine. I see a healthy baby girl."

Anna snapped her neck to turn to Loki, "A healthy baby what?" She said, holding her gaze with Loki.

"Oh! Of course, mortals wouldn't be able to tell this soon! A girl, dear! Congratulation, you are going to have a baby girl."

Anna began to cry even more, but this time, the tears were not out of fear, but joy. The nurses said their congratulations as they exited the room, leaving Loki and Anna holding hands in silence as Anna cried silent tears. In that moment, any thought of not going through with the pregnancy left her mind.

"A girl." She said to Loki, who was rubbing her hand, consoling her.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you that our technology is probably much farther advanced. Are you in shock?"

"No. No no no," Anna repeated, "I'm happy. I'm really happy and relieved."

Loki broke a smile too, and the two sat there for quite some time, just holding hands and smiling like idiots.

"I'm kind of scared to do anything right now, that was terrifying." Anna confessed.

"We can take it slow for a while."

"But I'm so tired of taking it slow on this planet." She said with a smirk.

Loki climbed into the bed next to her and pulled up the covers.

"Loki, it's not even close to noon yet." She said, remembering how boring that room could be.

"Can we go back to bed, and try waking up again later? The last time didn't go so well."

"I think my adrenaline is still pumping. There's no way I could sleep."

Loki pulled her in by the waist so that she was laying down next to him. She could feel that he had no clothes on, she was still in a thin night gown.

"You were just dressed a minute ago, what did I miss?" She asked.

"Illusions." He answered groggily as he nuzzled into her neck.

"Are we really starting this day over again?"

Loki didn't answer, he just breathed deeply into her. She was amazed at his ability to sleep. He was like a cat.

For a while, she just laid next to him as he held her, rubbing her stomach, imagining what her daughter would look like. Her view on her pregnancy completely changed over the course of an hour, she was amazed what a quick terror had done to her. Eventually, she fell asleep too, one hand on her stomach, the other on Loki.

She woke when Loki pulled away from her, the absence of his heat caused her to shiver. She kept her eyes closed for a while, as she listened to hear what he was doing. At first there was some shuffling, he was probably putting clothes on, and then, a knock at the door.

"Mother!" Loki said enthusiastically.

"Hello, dear. It's good to have you back! Both of you!" Anna recognized this voice. It was Loki's mother, Frigga. A woman that she hadn't spoken with in what felt like forever.

Loki hushed her, "She should be awake soon, shall we join for dinner? We have a lot to tell you."

Loki's mother's tone was a curious one, "I can only imagine what that means…I'll leave you to wake her. Dinner it is."

A few footsteps passed, and Anna felt Loki's warmth wrapped back around her.

"Love" He said softly. Anna opened one eye and looked at him in her sleepy haze.

"Nap times over, love. We have dinner plans with my mother."

Anna nodded and yawned, pushing herself into his body. Sometimes it was just so hard to pull away from him. Like a caterpillar wrapped in a cocoon.

She rolled around in bed for a bit, struggling to get up. Even though it wasn't morning, Anna was feeling a light nausea; something that she hoped would go away sooner rather than later.

Eventually, Loki pulled her out of bed, "We're going to be late, love. Come, I'll help you shower.

He was smirking, and as much as Anna liked the sound of a shower with her lover, the idea of being manhandled was too much for her nerves. She wanted to treated herself like a glass doll, god forbid she break any part of her.

The pair got into the shower together, but as Loki started to kiss her, Anna pulled back.

"We don't have time to mess around, we spent the entire day sleeping."

Loki kissed her neck, "Let me do the worrying, dear."

She was conflicted, he felt so good as he pulled her closer to him, but as he grew hard against her, she started to tremble.

"What's wrong, love?" He asked as he pressed his forehead to hers, water raining around them. He was breathing heavily with lust.

Anna ignored his question; she wanted to feel normal, again. She was on another planet with a man that she imagined herself marrying. She should be happy. She kissed him passionately, trying to force herself to act normal. Loki returned her affection and she felt him place himself at her entrance, she prepared herself for him, but instead, he stopped.

"I can tell that something is wrong." He said.

"The shower isn't the best place for a deep conversation, Loki." Anna responded, trying to act tough.

"You're right, let's get out of the shower then."

"Well I'm going to wash my hair, while you attempt to walk around like _that_." Anna smirked looking down at Loki's girth. He may have been aware that Anna wasn't in the mood, but that didn't stop him from wanting her.

Loki sighed and looked up.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked as she washed her hair.

"I'm trying to think of something…unappealing."

Anna rinsed the conditioner out of her hair and put her hand on Loki's chest, "But how is that possible while I'm right here in front of you."

Quickly, Loki grabbed Anna by the waist and pushed her against the glass shower door.

Anna yelped, "Be careful!" She shouted.

Loki stopped once again, "Careful of what?"

"Just…careful. Don't drop me or…I don't know, anything that could hurt the baby." It was strange saying that out loud, 'the baby', it was eerily real.

Loki seemed to have an epiphany, "Is that it? Is that why you're acting so strange?"

Anna blushed.

"I know this morning was scary, darling, but everything was fine. You're fine, the baby is fine. We can't put our lives on halt for nine months, that's not normal."

"I know but…I just don't want to be too…rough."

Loki smirked, "Then I'll take it reaaaal sloooow." He said seductively as he started to bit Anna's ear.

She pushed him back gently, "Maybe a slippery shower isn't the best place?"

Loki waved his hand and filled the bath, "Better?"

Anna smiled, she had to admit that he was charming.

The pair ended up late for dinner, as predicted. Loki rushed Anan through dozens of halls to make it to the dining room. Anna didn't have time to be nervous as they entered the large double doors to an incredible long table where Frigga sat next to a man who must have been Loki's father. Anna was upset that there was no sign of Thor, she was looking forward to a bit of lightheartedness.

"You're late." The man said.

"They just got here, yesterday, Odin, I'm sure it wasn't intentional." Frigga said calmingly.

Loki just led Anna to a seat and sat down next to her.

"Odin, this is Anna of Earth." Frigga said, Anna and Odin smiled at each other.

"It's good to see you again." She said to Frigga. She didn't know that Frigga would remember her so easily.

Frigga smiled, "And you, so Loki, you told me that we had a lot to discuss earlier, care to elaborate?" Frigga asked.

"I didn't know father was here." Loki said darkly.

Odin opened his mouth to retaliate, but Frigga cut him off, "Ah, a secret. I do love secrets."

It was obvious that Loki had great disdain for his father, but his mother was a pro at disarming him.

Loki sighed, "No, I was just caught off guard. I suppose that this news is both mine and Anna's to share, Loki held Anna's hand under the table.

"Anna and I haven't had the smoothest relationship, but I believe we're both sure that what we want is long-term. We haven't made any official plans yet, but there's a reason to why she's moved back here with me."

Anna wished she didn't have to be here for this announcement. She had just met Odin, she felt terribly awkward.

"Our timing may be off, but we're happy to announce that Anna is with child. A daughter."

Frigga clasped her hands over her mouth, Odin nodded.

"Look at that! I knew you'd find your place. Loki, a father. How wonderful!" Frigga said.

"Have you done any tests?" Odin asked.

"Tests for what?" Loki seemed bothered by the sound of his father's voice.

"We've quietly raised one frost giant in this kingdom, do you think it would be a reasonable idea to try to do it again?"

This was obviously a sore spot for Loki, "Can you be happy for us rather than immediately jump to conclusions? The baby is barely a baby, it's too early to determine anything."

"It's never too early." Odin said, "and I am happy for you, I just want to take the proper precautions."

"I don't see any possible precautions, dear, if the child has frost giant blood, what can we do? We always knew it was a possibility…"

"Am I that much of a disease, that this is all we can talk about right now?"

"Of course not, darling. Let's finish our meals."

"I'm full." Loki said, pushing his plate away like a child."

Anna had been pushing her food around since arriving at the table, but she didn't speak up until Loki addressed her, "Are you done, dear?"

"She hasn't eaten much of her meal, why not just sit with us?" Loki's mother asked.

"No, it's fine, I'm not feeling very hungry, it's been a long day." Anna said, wanting to get away from the tension of Loki and his father.

The two said goodbye and exited back to Loki's room.

"I'm sorry about that." Loki said as they sat down on the bed.

"I could never imagine you to be so childish, Loki."

"There's a lot of history there. What's important is that my mother knows now."

"And that you were able to hold in your anger and stay calm. I was incredibly impressed." The fact that Loki didn't even turn a tinge of blue made Anna incredibly happy. The more he controlled himself, the more comfortable she was with him being the father of her child.

Anna began to take off the dress that she was in, she did not miss the elaborate costumes they had on Asgard, she yearned for sweatpants.

"Before you get undressed, do you want to go somewhere? We've slept all day, I don't think we could sleep yet."

If Anna was being honest, she could go back to bed. She was terrified for when she was really pregnant, because this baby was already affecting her too much. But she desperately wanted to see more of Asgard, especially at a time when she'd barely even been outside, so she agreed.

Loki took her to a body of water that seemed like a lake. There were woods surrounding it, and the moonlight reflecting off of it was mesmerizing. The air was still and cool. Not freezing, but Anna was happy that her dress had so many layers to it. There was a wooden boat on the grass by the water, and Anna wondered if Loki had any intention of using it.

"Your planet is beautiful." Anna said as she looked out on the barely rippling water.

"I resent it sometimes, this isn't where I was destined to grow up. But I'm secretly grateful that it's where I ended up. I have come to love it."

"I have to ask, are we getting on that boat? Because if I drown tonight, I will not be happy."

Loki laughed, you're ruining the surprises, and you won't drown."

He took her hand and pulled her to the boat.

"Surprises? Hm?" Anna asked as she got into the wobbly boat, "I'm honestly fearful for my life right now, Loki."

He steadied her as they both sat down, "breathe." He said calmly.

Thinking like a mortal, she assumed they would have to row their way around the lake, but of course Loki controlled the movement of the boat with magic. The two were in the center of the lake without any effort. It felt like she was in a movie.

Anna stared out into the distance of the foreign planet in wonder.

"I know that we're thinking well into the future for this…" Loki said softly, "but it feels odd having you carry my child without any certainty."

"Certainty of what?" Anna asked, confused.

Loki shushed her, "Let me finish." He smiled at the ground, "I did some research on that computer of yours back on earth, and apparently when a couple want to wed, they go through a period of engagement, that can last as long as they please."

In that moment, Anna realized what they were doing out there on that boat with the romantic moonlight setting.

Loki continued, "This is supposed to be a very special moment for the couple, I think I've got this right, at least, I hope I do."

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a ring, "Now that my family knows, the next logical step in all of this, is asking you to marry me. Not anytime soon, I know that, but, well, this is more of a promise that it's going to happen when we figure everything out. Whether that be in one year or four years. I'm okay with waiting, as long as I'm doing it with you."

"Oh….Loki…" She smiled, "You nailed it, I accept."

They both laughed as he put the ring on her finger.

"Looks like you have some mortal in you after all, Loki. What would the people say if they knew?" She joked.

"Ah, my dear, in reality it is you who has some of I." He said, putting his hand on her stomach. She smiled and put her hand on his. She felt like a part of a strange little family out there on that boat. A family that she never in a million years expected to be a part of.

The next few weeks were amazing. Anna was given some medication that stopped her nausea and fatigue, and Loki had showed her nearly all of Asgard. They went out almost every day, and Asgard was no longer associated with a prison in her mind. When Thor came back and was told of Anna's pregnancy and engagement, he nearly burst from excitement. He insisted that they hold a banquet in here's and Loki's honor. That itself lasted nearly three days. Anna was introduced to a childhood friend of Loki and Thor's names Sif, who at first was quite intimidating, but turned out to be a lot like Anna.

On the third night of festivities, Anna saw a familiar face enter the banquet hall.

"Lale!" She shouted across the room, as she hurriedly ran towards her old friend.

Lale hugged her, "I'm so glad I found you in all this! Congratulations!" Lale said, putting her hand on Anna's stomach, "I knew from the moment I met you that you were special, now look at this!" She said, holding up Anna's left hand where her engagement ring sparkled.

"Yeah it was a wild ride…I didn't expect any of this…ever...how have you been doing?"

"Oh! I've been great. Once you've been an option for Loki, you become a hot commodity out there." Lale waved towards Asgard, "I've been dating a lot. Looking for my own Loki."

"Oh! I can go get him, if you want. I'm sure he's drunk, but he would be happy to-"

"No! No. I just stopped in to say hello, I'm pretty busy. I doubt he would remember me anyway, I don't think he knew my name when he kicked me out." Lale laughed, but it didn't sound sincere. Anna realized how jealous so many women must have been of her, and she didn't know the majority of them.

Anna smile, "Oh, well, it was nice seeing you! Come back soon, we'll hang out."

The girls said their goodbyes and Anna went back to the head table, where she sat and viewed the party. It was crazy to think of herself being in a position of power, but once her and Loki were married, her father-in-law would be the ruler of Asgard. She was slowly going to being some random mortal to a huge name to all of the Asgardian people. The thought of it made her dizzy.

In the upcoming weeks Anna became to show. Her tummy protruded just a bit past her pelvic bones, her and Loki were probably the only ones who noticed, since it was only really noticeable with her clothes off, but it was exciting nonetheless. They stopped leaving the grounds so much when people started to come up to them and bother them when they were outside of the palace. Anna felt like a celebrity for no reason, and she wasn't crazy about it. Loki explained to her that it was typical to get noticed and occasionally be stopped, but he too had never gotten as much attention as the pair got when they were out together. Anna tried to get Loki to be kind, but it didn't work, as expected. So the two ended up roaming around the dozens of gardens aimlessly a lot.

Anna was 18 weeks pregnant when she "popped". Loki swore it was overnight. All of a sudden, she was very pregnant. Her stomach could no longer be confused for a large dinner, and even if the Asgardian dresses, it was obvious that she was going to have a baby. Although it was a big change for her small body, Anna felt more comfortable with the protruding belly. Every since she had that scare with the bleeding, she had been incredibly careful with everything she did. The belly showed her that she had made it to a pivotal point in her pregnancy, and she no longer felt like she had to walk on eggshells.

It took quite some time and several of Asgard's finest to figure out a way to be able to connect Anna to Earth, but they eventually did it, and her parents had been calling her weekly since. They asked on a few occasions to visit her, but Anna had become a master of lying to them. Sometimes she would get angry and say that she's an adult who needs space, other times she would pretend to be studious and be bombarded with work, but as her school's spring break approached, she was running out of excuses.

"They keep asking me about it, Loki. I need to do something." It was an ongoing battle between the two about Anna returning to Earth. She was comfortable with it now that she was farther along with her pregnancy, Loki didn't want to take the risk.  
>"I told you, I'll shift down to Earth as you, put on an amazing act, and they won't suspect a thing."<p>

"And then I don't get to see my parents at all."

"I told you to tell them about the baby, it's not like you can hide it."

Anna sighed, "Will you tell me every detail of your visit?"

Loki hugged her and kissed the top of her head, "Right down to the color of their socks."

It was just a week later when Loki took off for a weekend away with her parents. Anna shed a few tears as she said her goodbyes, not because of Loki, she knew that she would be fine with him, but because he was going to get to see her parents as she stayed put. It was incredibly difficult to keep their grandchild a secret from them, but Anna couldn't just show up 19 weeks pregnant and act like she didn't know. She was hoping that if and when her and Loki had a second child, her parents could be there through it, and then bring in her first child later as an adopted child or maybe Loki's godchild that he became guardian of. Not telling them from the start was going to be a mistake that Anna was going to have to deal with her entire life, but there was no turning back now.

Anna wasn't worried about Loki. She drilled him on some things about her relationship with her parents, but he knew most of it from living with them. She knew that he could pull off being her, but she wished that he didn't have to.

The only thing she couldn't manage to teach Loki was how to use a mortal cell phone. He couldn't figure out the simplest of tasks like picking it up when Anna wanted to call him. So by the second night of the weekend, Anna laid in bed and just imagined what they did with their "daughter". She had some pretty good guesses, like go to her favorite restaurant, maybe see a movie. But of course she couldn't call and ask them, and Loki was too baffled by a cell phone to fill her in. She fell asleep quickly, looking forward to Loki's return the next day when she would be filled in on her parents. She knew that they were fine from talking to them, but she was sure that they would be different in person. She laughed at the idea of her mother's ridiculous crying when she saw her, and her father who would undoubtedly slip Loki a $50 bill and tell him to go shopping, even though the last thing Anna needed was money.

Anna woke the next morning in pain. A lot of pain. It felt like the world's worst period cramps. In her morning daze, she believed that's what it was, but when she sat up and rolled the covers back to find herself in a pool of blood. She woke right up and realized that something was wrong. She screamed for Ragna, who came rushing in instantly with a look of horror on her face.

The next thing Anna knew, several nurses were around her, and she had a mask on her face. Everything was blurry and she had a searing pain in her abdomen. She knew that the gas was putting her to sleep, but she was still terrified. The last thing she remembered saying was Loki's name as she held her hand out for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

_Loki POV_

Loki was exhausted from the weekend he spent with Anna's parents. They were amazingly kind people, and he was sure that he pulled off the act perfectly, but all the toting around in the car, the mortal meals, the terrible movie that he had to sit through, it was too much. All he wanted to see was beautiful Anna and her adorable belly. He couldn't wait to see her face light up as he told her how much her parents told him that they loved her, how they didn't suspect a thing, how happy they were when "she" told them how happy she was with Loki. He loved to see her happy.

When he landed back on Asgard, there were guards ready to greet him. This was odd, and he was immediately worried.

"What's happening?" He said as they turned and began to lead him to the palace.

"Anna's in the infirmary in the palace, something went wrong." One of the guards responded.

Loki's heart dropped into his stomach. He didn't warn the guard's, he immediately transported himself to the infirmary. He was furious with himself that he wasn't there for her, and felt the ice running through his veins. He tried to stabilize his breathing, but as soon as he saw a nurse he shouted, "WHERE IS SHE?"

The nurse saw that he was turning blue, but didn't seem to care. She took him by the arm and quickly walked him to Ragna. She grabbed both of Loki's hands and began to rub her thumbs in circles on him. This was her way of calming him down as a child, but it wasn't going to work here.

Loki pulled his hands away from her, "WHERE IS SHE?" He shouted again.

"You need to calm down. She needs you to be you." Ragna said calmly.

"I need to know what's going on." He said, as he took deep breaths to defrost his skin.

"She woke up this morning bleeding heavily. We don't see signs of a heartbeat anymore, and we believe that she has fully miscarried the child."

Loki fell into the wall next to him. He ran his hands through his hair, and for the second time since meeting Anna he felt true sadness. He began to cry as Ragna looked on.

"Does she know?" He asked. Wanting to curse himself for not being there for her.

"She hasn't woken up yet, she was in a complete panic when she woke up to the blood, we had to put her to sleep so that we could do our tests. She should be awake soon though."

"Can I see her now?" Loki asked, tears still running down his cheeks.

"She's going to need you to be strong."

Loki nodded.

Ragna brought him to a room where he found Anna sleeping peacefully. She was lying on her back with her hands on her stomach, which still looked like it could have a child in it. He sat down next to her and cried for the next hour, until she showed signs of waking.

She woke up slowly at first, but as she blinked her eyes open and saw where she was, she shot up in panic.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" She shouted while holding her stomach, "Oh my god. Oh my god. You're here." Then she started to cry in heavy sobs. "There was so much blood, Loki. It was everywhere. And the pain…I'm not in pain…what happened?"

Loki couldn't bare to say it. He just shook his head solemnly.

_Anna POV_

Anna didn't even know why she asked. She knew what had happened the moment she woke up that morning. Their baby was gone. Something had happened to it. Her and Loki sat in her room crying together for what felt like hours, but was most likely only minutes. A nurse came in cautiously, and stood at the end of Anna's bed.

"I'm sorry." She said, waiting for the pair to calm down. When they did, she went on, "It seems to have been an infection. About a week or two ago, a bacteria found its' way inside of you and stopped the growth of the baby. The reason why you found out today was your body was no longer had reason to hold on to the lost life, so your it got rid of the child."

Loki and Anna just nodded as the nurse went on, "But you're completely okay. Your body did the work for us, and after a night of observation, you'll be clear to go. Your belly will reduce naturally and you'll be okay. I mean that mentally as well as physically, both of you are going to be okay.

Anna didn't believe her. The pain in her heart was heavier than anything she had ever felt.

Loki didn't let go of her hand for more than a second. He held it as she slept through that night, as she was released the next day, all the way until she finally felt strong enough to step outside again. Together they learned to the thankful for her health, and to be thankful for each other. On a particularly bad night, when neither of them could sleep, they asked Ragna to bring them tea. When she saw the state that they were in, she gave them some words of wisdom. She said, "every couple goes the trials that can either make or break them. Some are more tragic than others, but the goal is to get the point when both partners can look back on that trial and reflect on how much stronger they came out of it."

**Epilogue**

Loki and Anna agreed that they would never be able to move past the tragedy that they went through. It wasn't the type of thing that anyone moves past. But as they stood under that wedding arch almost 2 years later, they both could agree that they had accepted what had happened, and were able to live their lives. Anna looked around at the beautiful wedding that her mother put together along with some secret magical help from Frigga. It wasn't easy integrating the families, and Anna's side of the wedding still had no idea that they were sitting in a room full of aliens, but it proved itself possible.

Anna was happy. It had been a lot of ups and downs since she was first swept away into her crazy new life, and it was sure to be full of plenty more, but she was ready for it, as long as she was able to do it hand in hand with her husband, together, as Laufeysons.


End file.
